Lundby claims historic large hill gold

Ski jumping star Maren Lundby hailed a 'special day' after becoming the first ever women's large hill world champion in Oberstdorf.

The Norwegian recorded leaps of 128m and 130.5m which contributed to an overall score of 296.6 points, enough to top the podium and claim a historic gold in an event which has never previously been part of a Nordic Ski World Championships.

The victory gave Lundby a second individual world gold, as she became only the second woman after Germany's Carina Vogt to win two individual ski jumping world titles.

"This is such a special day for me - this morning I didn't even know if I was allowed to jump," she said, alluding to a positive Covid-19 test for her compatriot Halvor Egner Granerud which led to additional tests for Norwegian skiers.

"It was a day with lots of ups and downs. We couldn't follow through with our processes as usual so I'm all the happier now. I'm definitely going to party a little tonight."

Lundby's gold was Norway's ninth of this World Championships and they have now won 22 of the 48 medals on offer in all.

The longest jump of the day helped earn silver for Japan's Sara Takanashi, who leapt 134m on the second run to edge out Nika Kriznar by just 0.8 points.

Takanashi, a four-time World Cup champion, remains without a World Championship gold since 2013 while Kriznar's bronze ensured the Slovakian ace will take home two medals from Oberstdorf as she backed up a silver in the team normal hill.

Austrian Marita Kramer was the best qualifier but couldn't take that form into the final and finished just outside the podium places in fourth.

The final two ski jumping medals to be decided are in the men's competition, with the individual large hill taking place on Friday and the team large hill on Saturday.

Sportsbeat 2021