The first Continental Cups of the summer are held on the Olympic hill in Lillehammer (NOR) this weekend. On day 1, the hosting team showed a strong performance there.
Sondre Ringen claimed the win on the HS 140 large hill in front of the home crowd with the longest jump of the day of 139.5 m and 134.5 m and a score of 268.3 points. This is the second win in the COC for the 25-year-old. “It was an awesome competition. I have been looking forward to competing all summer. I didn’t participate in the Grand Prix, I was getting ready for this and it turned out well. It’s the best if you can win at home”, said Sondre Ringen.
Japan’s Ren Nikaido posted jumps of 138 m and 136 m (263.0 points), surprised by finishing second this afternoon, and secured his first-ever podium in the Continental Cup.
With Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal, who achieved the by far best result of his career so far in third with 136.5 m and 132.5 m and 250.6 points, and Fredrik Villumstad in fourth two more Norwegians were among the very best.
Veteran Anders Fannemel and Joacim Oedegaard Bjoereng in seventh and ninth also achieved top results for the Norwegian team.
Maximilian Steiner was the best Austrian jumper on Saturday in fifth, narrowly followed by the best athlete of the Polish team, Klemens Muranka (6th). His teammate Stefan Hula was eighth, and Francisco Moerth (AUT) completed the Top 10.
The second competition in Lillehammer starts at 9:30 am CET on Sunday.
