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Katharina Althaus on her flight
Photo: JURE MAKOVEC / AFP
Ski jumper Katharina Althaus won gold on the normal hill at the World Championships in Planica.
The DSV-Adlerin won ahead of Eva Pinkelnig (Austria), who is leading in the overall World Cup, and Norway's Anna Odine Ström.
For the German Ski Association (DSV) it was the first medal in the title fights in Slovenia.
“It's sensational, she kept her nerve and pulled it off.
Hats off," said national coach Maximilian Mechler on ZDF: "We couldn't have dreamed of that." The 26-year-old won after jumps of 98.5 and 97 meters and secured victory in the second round.
After the first jump she was still in second place.
For Althaus it was the second individual medal at a World Cup, she had won silver in 2019 in Seefeld.
She also won silver in singles at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Althaus is the second German world champion in history, before her Carina Vogt had won gold in 2015 and 2017.
World Championship debutant Selina Freitag shone in fourth, Anna Rupprecht and Luisa Görlich rounded off the strong German result in ninth and 15th place.
The host experienced a disappointment: defending champion Ema Klinec only came in 19th place, so the best Slovenian was Nika Kriznar, who came third in the Olympics, in eleventh place.
Olympic champion Ursa Bogataj did not even start because of a cruciate ligament tear.
The coronation of the serial winner Takanashi is missing again
Meanwhile, Japan's Sara Takanashi continued her losing streak at major events, finishing 20th.
The Asian holds a lone record with 63 successes in the World Cup, but has always had to leave the big titles to the competition.
Althaus still has three more medal chances at the World Championships, starting with the mixed this Sunday (5:00 p.m.).
In mixed, Germany won World Cup gold in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 - Althaus was part of the team in three of four competitions.
Althaus has won six World Cup competitions this season.
You can find the World Cup schedule here.
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