History for Twardosz and Colby in Râșnov as Nakamura secures overall Grand Prix crown

Anna Twardosz became the first Polish woman to win a FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix event at Râșnov (ROU) on Saturday, and completed a weekend double on Sunday.

In the men’s, Naoki Nakamura (JPN) triumphed on Saturday to clinch the overall Grand Prix title with two competitions to spare. The Japanese celebrated his 30th birthday in style as he claimed his third win of the campaign after his opening double in Wisła (POL).

Jason Colby was second on Saturday, but went one better on Sunday to become the first ever American man to win a Grand Prix event. The last time an American male won a World Cup event was back in 1984.

Twardosz celebrates maiden Grand Prix victory

The women opened proceedings on the HS97 Normal Hill in Râșnov on Saturday.

It proved to be a milestone day for Twardosz who produced jumps of 96.0 and 90.0 meters to claim the first Grand Prix victory of her career in convincing fashion.

The 25-year-old Pole had two third places in Râșnov last year, and rebounded to form having missed out on the top 10 in her four previous appearances this term.

Her total of 256.1 points was 19.1 clear of Japan’s Ringo Miyajima who had jumps of 91.5m and 88.0m. China’s Bing Dong (233.2) had her first Grand Prix podium finish in third with 92.0m and 89.5m.

Grand Prix leader Ema Klinec (SLO) missed out on the podium by just seven-tenths after ending round one in sixth. Ping Zeng (CHN) was fifth ahead of 17-year-old Kira Maria Kapustikova (SVK).

"I am extremely happy that I managed to win today," Twardosz said afterwards. "I was already third twice here last year so, of course, I love this hill."

The competition was overshadowed by a heavy fall for Qi Liu. The Chinese sailed out to 98.5m in round one, a new women's hill record, but crashed on landing and was transported to hospital in Brașov. Initial X-rays showed no fracture although she has suspected ligament damage to her right knee.

Nakamura celebrates 30th birthday with victory

There could hardly have been a better way for Naoki Nakamura to celebrate entering his fourth decade on the planet.

The Japanese dominated on Saturday, with jumps of 93.0m and 96.0m giving him a winning total of 234.1 points.

And with nearest series rival Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) not competing in Râșnov, Nakamura established an unassailable lead in the Grand Prix standings after five of the seven events.

"I couldn’t be happier," Nakamura said. "I am very satisfied with my jumps, especially the second one. I was simply able to show what I can do."

Behind Nakamura, Jason Colby delivered one of the biggest performances of his young career. Having led the way in training, the 20-year-old American jumped 89.0m and 90.5m for 215.2 points and his first Grand Prix podium.

Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (NOR) was just half a point behind Colby in third after jumps of 89.0m and 89.5m.

Juri Kesseli (SUI) was fourth for his best Grand Prix result, while Ilya Mizernykh (KAZ) jumped 93.0m in the final round to climb from 12th to fifth for his first Grand Prix top 10 finish. Kaimar Vagul (EST) continued his strong summer with sixth place.

Twardosz completes perfect weekend

Twardosz continued where she had left off when the women returned to the hill on Sunday.

The Pole produced the longest jump of round one with her 94.0m establishing an 8.4-point advantage over Ping Zeng.

Starting from one gate lower than the rest of the field in the final round, Twardosz went out to 83.0m. And significant gate compensation saw her post the best score in all four of the weekend's round as she clinched another conclusive victory.

With 221.0 points, she was exactly 10 points clear of Zeng, who had jumps of 89.0m and 91.5m.

Grand Prix leader Ema Klinec rounded out the podium with a total of 208.8 points after two jumps of 88.0m. That saw the Slovenian extend her series lead to 67 points over the absent Yuki Ito (JPN) ahead of the season finale in Klingenthal (GER). Twardosz is just four points behind the Japanese with Zeng two points further back.

Hannah Wiegele (AUT) was fourth with 199.7 points, just two-tenths ahead of Ringo Miyajima. Kira Maria Kapustikova finished sixth for the second consecutive day.

China also enjoyed another strong team performance with Zeng on the podium, Liangyao Wang eighth and Saturday’s third-place finisher Bing Dong 11th.

Twardosz had her first World Cup top 10 finish in Falun (SWE) last November, but refuses to set herself targets for the coming campaign on the back of her Grand Prix exploits.

“Even after this great result, I still don’t want to set myself any specific goals in terms of positions for the winter,” she commented. “I want to ski jump well and enjoy it, then the results will come.”

Colby turns first podium into first victory

Jason Colby produced some final-round heroics to convert his Saturday second into Sunday victory.

Paweł Wąsek (POL) led after the opening round with a jump of 92.0m for 118.5 points, narrowly ahead of Japan’s Yuto Nakamura and Colby.

The American then delivered when it mattered most. His effort of 93.5m, the longest jump of the competition, earned him a massive 128.6 points to pile the pressure on the remaining two athletes.

And after Nakamura struggled, Wąsek jumped 87.5m which left him on 234.1 points, over 10 behind Colby's winning total of 244.9.

Danil Vassilyev (KAZ) moved above Nakamura to take the last spot on the podium with a final jump of 91.0m. He finished on 233.5 points, just two-tenths ahead of the Japanese.

Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal was fifth to back up his third on Saturday, with Polish veteran Dawid Kubacki taking sixth place.

“This is a great weekend for me and for our whole team." Colby said. "I’m incredibly happy. We have done a lot of training in the wind tunnel this summer, and I think my flying skills have improved significantly because of that. It could help me even more on bigger hills than it did here in Râșnov. I’m looking forward to the winter, but I’m not setting any goals in terms of results."

Colby’s victory capped an outstanding weekend for Team USA with team-mate Tate Frantz having his best Grand Prix finish of the season on Sunday in ninth.

Having already secured the overall title, Naoki Nakamura was below his best in seventh.

“Today I was a little defensive, and my position was also slightly too far back, so I didn’t manage to produce really good jumps in either round,” he admitted. “Overall, though, they were still okay. The tailwind was quite strong today. The important thing is that I came here as the leader and now I have won the overall title. I’m very happy about that.” 

Nakamura has 428 points after six competitions with Vassilyev in second on 201, one point ahead of Daniel Tschofenig

The FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix now moves to Klingenthal (GER), where the final individual competition will take place on October 24.