Winter Olympics 2022 - Ursa Bogataj takes gold medal in women's ski jumping normal hill final
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Updated 05/02/2022 at 13:47 GMT
Bogataj headed into the final round in second place but overtook Katharina Althaus with a better second jump. Althaus claimed a silver medal, just as she did in Pyeongchang four years ago. Japanese star Sara Takanashi missed the podium after finishing fourth for another disappointing Olympic result.
Watch jubilant celebrations as Bogataj clinches ski jumping gold at Beijing 2022
Ursa Bogataj took the gold medal in the women's ski jumping individual normal hill event in a pulsating contest at the Zhangjiakou mountain resort.
Katharina Althaus put herself in a commanding position after jumping 105.5 metres and gaining 121.1 points to initially take first place after the first round.
But Althaus was closely followed by a formidable trio of Slovenian jumpers, and Bogataj knocked Althaus off top spot with a better second jump.
Bogataj headed into the final round in second place after jumping 108.0m and gaining 118.0 points in the first round, but her second distance of 100.0m and tally of 121.0 points gave her a total of 239.0 points.
As for Althaus, she claimed a silver medal, just as she did in Pyeongchang four years ago, with an impressive total of 236.8 points – more than four points clear of Nika Križnar, who took home bronze.
Japanese star Sara Takanashi missed the podium after finishing fourth, for another disappointing Olympic result. Takanashi has a record 61 World Cup victories but has never taken an individual gold at a major championships, earning a bronze in 2018 as her only Olympic medal.
It was a contest that was absorbing from the get-go, with Irma Makhinia setting the standard on the first run with a jump distance of 90.0m, earning her an impressive 85.4 points.
However, that distance and score was obliterated late on in a first round that had plenty of quality on show.
It was become clear that the battle for podium places would be fought between Althaus, Bogataj, Križnar and Ema Klinec, and that is how it eventually turned out.
But Bogataj’s second jump ultimately proved to be the difference, as ski jumping in Beijing started with a bang.
The men's normal hill event is held Sunday.
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