Nozomi Maruyama makes it three-in-a-row in phenomenal Falun finish

World Cup leader Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) continued her perfect start to the FIS Ski Jumping season with a third consecutive individual victory, winning a challenging women’s World Cup on the normal hill in Falun (SWE).

Originally scheduled for the large hill, the competition was moved to the normal hill after stormy weather. Qualification was also canceled, sending all 65 athletes straight into the first scoring round.

Maruyama handled the conditions superbly, posting 94 m and 91 m jumps for a combined 229.6 points, winning by 18.5 points. She is edging closer to matching teammate and women’s ski jumping great Sara Takanashi’s record of four consecutive individual World Cup wins to start a season (2013).

Showing confidence, Maruyama started from a lower gate (22) in round one yet still flew farther than athletes starting from gate 24, collecting bonus points with a 94 m jump worth 115.2 points. She then sealed the win with another dominant second round from gate 21, scoring 114.4 points.

Slovenia’s Nika Prevc, last season’s overall World Cup, World Championships and Two Nights Tour champion, improved from fifth after the first round to finish second with 211.1 points. Austria’s Lisa Eder took her second podium of the season in third on 209.3 points. Norway’s Anna Odine Strøm was in podium contention at the half but slipped to fourth despite improving to 93 m in round two. Slovenia’s Nika Vodan jumped the day’s longest at 96.5 m to climb to fifth.

Falun’s women’s large hill qualifying and competition were listed for 29–30 November, but the turbulent weather forced the reshuffle described above.