Switzerland’s Gregor Deschwanden and Ursa Bogataj of Slovenia showed the best performances on the first day of the Grand Prix weekend in Rasnov (ROU).
The men had two training rounds and a prologue on the HS 97 m hill in Rasnov (ROU) on Friday afternoon.
After Gregor Deschwanden already showed a strong performance in training, the 31-year-old then took the win in the prologue with a 93 m jump (119.8 points), followed by Japan’s Ren Nikaido. Deschwanden proved his strong shape this summer already with the second place in the Grand Prix in Courchevel four weeks ago.
Daniel Tschofenig was the best Austrian today in third, his teammate Stefan Kraft was not able to compete in Rasnov due to stomach problems. Manuel Fettner, who won in Courchevel, came in 14th. With another win tomorrow, he could take the overall lead in the Grand Prix, the athletes who are currently ranked ahead of him are not in Rasnov. Pawel Wasek finished fourth, his teammate Stefan Hula was eighth.
Today’s results promise an exciting premiere for the “Super Team Event”, where the teams will consist of only two athletes per nation, but there will be three competition rounds.
Japan (Shimizu und Nikaido) might be able to claim the first-ever win in this competition format. But Poland, with Hula and Wasek, also has a good chance to defeat the favorites of Austria. David Siegel was the best German in ninth today, he will be on a team together with Luca Roth.
The men’s Super Team Event, originally scheduled for Sunday, will be held on Saturday at 12:45 pm CET (1:34 pm LOC) between the women’s and men’s individual competitions, due to the bad weather forecast for Sunday afternoon in Rasnov.
The mixed team competition shall take place on Sunday as planned.
