USA Nordic Weekend Recap: Titisee Neustadt World Cup, Lillehammer & Vikersund Continental Cups

Men’s & Women’s Ski Jumping competed at the Titisee Neustadt World Cup and Vikersund Continental Cup this past weekend. Annika Malacinski competed at the Lillehammer Continental Cup for Women’s Nordic Combined, notching her first-ever COC podium, with a 3rd place finish during Saturday’s HS100/5km Event.

Women’s Nordic Combined – Lillehammer Continental Cup

Annika Malacinski started her weekend off on Friday, December 9th, with the HS100/5km Competition. On the hill, Malacinski was able to jump to 75.0 meters, giving her 84.7 points and placing her in 14th for the start of the 5km. During the 5km race, Malacinski was able to ski up, finishing 8th overall with a total time of 15:46.5.

For the final HS100/5km Event of the weekend on Saturday, Malacinski was able to have a better day on the hill, jumping to 80.0 meters (89.8 points), putting her in 9th place for the start of the 5km race. Starting the race +3:09.5 behind the day’s leader, Malacinski was able to ski up, earning her first-ever COC podium with a 3rd place finish (15:33.5 total time).

“I’m very happy for Annika and her achievement,” said Women’s Nordic Combined Head Coach, Tomas Matura. “We know that there is still a lot of space for improvements before the next competitions.”

Men’s & Women’s Ski Jumping – Titisee Neustadt World Cup

The Titisee Neustadt Men’s and Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup started on Friday, December 9th, with the Men’s HS142 Qualifying. Decker Dean was able to qualify, going 126.0 meters, finishing 44th overall in qualification with 108.4 points. Casey Larson was unable to qualify, finishing 54th overall after going 115.5 meters for 91.6 points. During Friday’s Individual HS142 Event, Dean was able to jump to 121.0 meters (93.1 points) in the first round, putting him 44th overall, as he was unable to advance to the final round.

Dean, Larson, Annika Belshaw and Paige Jones then competed in the Mixed Team HS142 event on Saturday. During the first round, Dean jumped to 120.5 meters, with Larson going 113.5 meters, and Belshaw and Jones both going for 109.0 meters. With 345.9 total team points, they were unable to advance to the second round, finishing 9th overall.

Sunday’s action started off with the Women’s HS142 Qualifying. Annika Belshaw was able to qualify and advance, as she jumped to 109.0 meters, putting her in 30th place with 80.5 points. During the Individual HS142 Event, Belshaw carded a 99.5 meter jump in the first round, putting her in 33rd overall with 67.1 points. Belshaw was unable to advance for the final round.

The final event of the weekend was the Men’s Individual HS142 Competition. Dean was able to qualify, as he finished 44th overall, after going 118.5 meters for 99.1 points. Larson was unable to qualify, as he placed 54th overall. During the first round of the HS142 Individual Competition, Dean was able to jump to 125.0 meters for 114.1 points. This put him in 33rd place to end the weekend, as he was unable to qualify for the second round.

Men’s & Women’s Ski Jumping – Vikersund Continental Cup

In Vikersund, Women’s Ski Jumping kicked-off the weekend with an Individual HS117 Event. Anna Hoffmann recorded the highest finish of the day, placing 11th overall, after putting together jumps of 98.5 and 97.5 meters for 207.1 points. Sam Macuga was close behind in 12th, as she recorded jumps of 94.5 and 102.5 meters, for a total of 205.7 points. Cara Larson rounded things out with a 24th place finish, with jumps of 81.5 and 88.0 meters for 148.9 points. Women’s Ski Jumping ended the Vikersund COC on Saturday with another Individual HS117 Event. Hoffmann again recorded the highest finish of the day at 16th place, as she jumped to 96.5 and 97.0 meters, giving her 197.2 points.

Men’s Ski Jumping got underway in Vikersund on Saturday, as they competed in an Individual HS117 Event. In the first round, Erik Belshaw recorded a 103.0 meter jump (119.5 points). This put Belshaw in 44th overall, as he was unable to advance to the final round. The final event of the weekend came on Sunday for Men’s Ski Jumping, with another Individual HS117 Event. In the first round of action, Urlaub jumped to 103.0 meters (102.9 points, 39th place), and Belshaw jumped to 103.0 meters as well (102.6 points, 41st place). Both Urlaub and Belshaw were unable to advance to the final round.