Ski Jumping – Selina Freitag Second at WM General Probe in Hinzenbach

Selina Freitag once again stepped onto the podium at the Hinzenbach World Cup event, finishing in second place during the WM (World Championship) general probe. In a closely contested competition, she recorded jump distances of 90.5 and 88.5 meters, trailing behind Slovenian favorite Nika Prevc (with jumps of 90.0 and 87.5 meters) by a margin of just 2.5 points. Canadian Abigail Strate rounded out the podium with a fifth consecutive World Cup podium finish.

Freitag, who is clearly building her career medaling ambitions ahead of the upcoming Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, stated after the event, "We tried to make it as difficult as possible for Nika. It was very close, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough." She added that she was very pleased with the quality of her jumps over the weekend, despite missing her first win.

In contrast, Katharina Schmid, aiming to regain her top form for the World Championships, could only manage a seventh-place finish with jump lengths of 81.0 and 82.5 meters. Schmid, who had even worn the leader’s yellow bib earlier in the season, now faces a gap of over 36 points to the winner and must wait after ten individual events for another podium. Meanwhile, Juliane Seyfarth, finishing in tenth place with jumps around 80 meters, collected her third top-10 result, bolstering her chances for a start at the World Championships.

Bundestrainer Heinz Kuttin was positive about the overall performance, noting that the team has a strong podium presence with Selina on the podium and two other jumpers in the top 10. He also emphasized that while not every jumper was at their best, the preparations for the World Championships in Trondheim look promising.

Additional talents, the 20-year-olds Emely Torazza and Alvine Holz, managed to score World Cup points, and although Luisa Görlich was forced to withdraw after a troubled first jump, she is expected to travel to Trondheim with lower chances of making the team compared to Seyfarth.

Overall, the event at Hinzenbach served as an important rehearsal for the upcoming Nordic Ski World Championships, with Selina Freitag demonstrating that she is a serious medal contender on the international stage.