On Friday Lahti has seen a very exciting final round of female ski jumping. 25-year-old Vogt, who is also the current Olympic champion, has yet proven that her nerves are made of steel. She was in third place after the first round but jumped farthest in the finals (96.5 m), winning with a two-point lead ahead of Yuki Ito, the silver medallist.

After the first round, Maren Lundby of Norway had been in the lead (99.5 m) with 2.7 points ahead of Sara Takanashi from Japan and more than 3 points more than Carina Vogt. The Norwegian jumper only managed 91 metres in the final round and dropped to fourth place, while the serial winner of World Cup matches Takanashi won bronze.

18-year-old Ema Klinec, who is competing at her first world championship, landed at 99 metres in great conditions of the 1st round but lost some valuable points due to somewhat weak telemark. In the final round, the Slovenian jumped 94 metres and took fifth place, which is the best result of any Slovenian female ski jumper since 2009, when women started competing in the World Cup. The main goal of the Slovenian team, i.e. one jumper in the top six, is thus successfully fulfilled.

"I'm very satisfied – expect for the landing in the first round. That telemark probably took away a medal, but I'm not burdened by this. Overall, the jumps were good," told Klinec to TV Slovenija.

Another Slovenian debutant at top-level competitions, Nika Križnar, finished thirteenth: "I managed to make two excellent jumps, I'm really glad. I tried to be as relaxed as possible, I didn't stress about the importance of the competition."

The remaining two Slovenian competitors, Maja Vtič and Špela Rogelj, took 17th and 22nd places respectively.

The middle-sized ski jumping hill will host men on Sunday and a mixed female team competition on Sunday.

T. O., MMC; translated by K. Z.