Slovenia Wins Olympic Debut Of Ski Jumping Mixed Team
Feb 7, 2022, 7:03 AM
Nika Kriznar of Team Slovenia reacts after jumping during Mixed Team Ski Jumping Final Round at National Ski Jumping Centre on February 07, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Slovenia won the first Olympic ski jumping mixed team gold medal on Monday.
The team of Ursa Bogataj, Nika Kriznar, Peter Prevc and Timi Zajc had 1,000.5 points, dominating the competition by more than 100 points.
Prevc jumped last and soared 101.5 meters (333 feet) and had 126.3 points to seal the top spot on the podium for the Slovenians.
Russia won silver and Canada, in a surprise, earned bronze.
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Germany, one of the favorites to win, was disqualified after the first round because of an equipment violation by Katharina Althaus, who won silver for the second straight Olympics on Saturday.
Japan, with Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi and star Sara Takanashi, finished fourth in the 10-nation field after Takanashi had a jump disqualified. Kobayashi won on the normal hill on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese jumper to finish first in the event since Yukio Kasaya in 1972.
The Slovenians had a 49-point lead over Norway entering the final round, and floated to a lopsided victory.
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Slovenian women and men, including Bogataj and Prevc, teamed up to win a mixed team World Cup event last month and showed that was not a fluke. Bogataj won Olympic gold in women’s ski jumping on Saturday night, four years after after having the fewest points in the same event at the Pyeongchang Games.
Men have been ski jumping at the Winter Olympics since the first one in 1924. Women did not have access to the sport at the Olympics until 2014.
The International Ski Federation hosted the first mixed team event in 2012, when Takanashi was part of the winning team, and it has been at the World Cup four times over the last decade.
Norway was the only nation that earned a spot on the podium in each of the previous four mixed team World Cup events, but that streak was snapped with an eighth-place finish.
While the women are finished jumping in China, the men have two more opportunities with the large hill in an individual event Saturday and team competition next Monday.
