Podium sweep for Slovenia's female ski jumpers in Oberhof
Oberhof - Slovenia's ski jumpers Urša Bogataj, Nika Križnar and Ema Klinec placed first, second and third, respectively, at the last women's ski jumping World Cup event of the season in Oberhof, Germany, on Sunday.
Bogataj scored 277.4 points, Križnar 273.1 points and Klinec 262.4 points. Another Slovenian finished in the top ten - Špela Rogelj (252.5 points), who placed sixth in what was the last event of her career.
Rogelj, 27, is considered a pioneer of women's ski jumping in the World Cup, not only in Slovenia but also in general, and the International Ski Federation paid tribute after the event to her achievements and contributions to the sport.
Bogataj, 27, the double Olympic champion, was second after the first series, but with a jump of 100 metres she secured the win.
"I'm very happy, this is my second World Cup victory. (...) This ski jumping hill is something special; I like it because I jump well. The last two days have been very good for me," she told the International Ski Federation after the competition.
Bogataj later confirmed that Slovenia's head coach Zoran Zupančič was stepping down.
Another Slovenian Nika Prevc, junior world champion, was 12th, and Jerneja Brecl finished 24th.
Austria's Marita Kramer, 20, won the Crystal Globe, having scored 1,316 points to succeed Križnar, 22, as the overall World Cup winner. The latter was second this year (1,191 points), ahead of Bogataj in third place (1,151 points). Klinec, 23, was seventh overall after missing out on a number of events due to a coronavirus infection.
Slovenia meanwhile won the Nations' Cup for the first time, having been by far the best team this season. Slovenia scored 4,570 points, whereas the second-placed Austria earned 3,823 points. Japan finished third with 2,213 points.