STA, 22 February 2020 - The Slovenian team finished second in the Ski Jumping World Cup event for women in Ljubno ob Savinji, finishing only behind Austria, as the two-day meet at Savina Ski Jumping Centre started on Saturday with some 8,000 spectators in attendance.
Nika Križnar, Špela Rogelj, Katra Komar and Ema Klinec, who led the standings after the first round, combined for a total of 1,005.1 points, while the Austrians scored 1,008.7.
The second place for Slovenia repeats the success from last year, although this time the women's team was much closer to the first place, which they had to concede to the favoured Austrians.
Led by Chiara Hölzl, who currently leads the World Cup standings, Austria overtook Slovenia to claim the first place, while Norway, headed by the Olympic champion Maren Lundby, were third (960.2).
Križnar had the best performance in the Slovenian team, and the second-best individual result overall. "I had two really excellent jumps today. I tried to do my best ... and the final jump, which was more relaxed, was really good."
Klinec, currently the best Slovenian in the World Cup, said that the home venue had provided her with an additional momentum, "making everything much simpler" and adding that it was "really an excellent competition."
Head coach Zoran Zupančič is satisfied, too. "We had aimed at a podium finish, while being aware that the Austrians are absolute favourites. The girls worked exceptionally hard, they 'exploded', which is what must happen in team events."
The two-day meet in northern Slovenia will conclude on Sunday with an individual competition, which in addition to Klinec and Križnar, two of the top ten competitors this World Cup season, will see another seven Slovenians competing.
Ljubno ob Savinji is hosting the women's World Cup for ninth year in a row, with the organisers expecting that up to 15,000 spectators will show up in the two days.
* Results of the World Cup team event in Ljubno ob Savinji: 1 Austria 1,008.7 points (Iraschko-Stolz 85.5/90, Kramer 85/90, Pinkelnig 93/92, Hölzl 80.5/88.5) 2 Slovenia 1,005.1 (Križnar 92/94, Rogelj 89/86, Komar 83.5/82, Klinec 88.5/89) 3 Norway 960,2 (Odine Ström 86.5/89, Björseth 82.5/75, Opseth 88.5/85, Lundby 84.5/91.5) 4 Germany 916.4 5 Russia 913.4
