K-90 and Sprint in Yabuli

Kim Hyun-Ki flying forthe Gold in K90 event

As you know, ice sports are very popular in China but snow sports are really new.
This is the paradox of this Universiade. Some snow sports have never been organized in this country or in any case, not at this level. Consequently it was crucial for the technical staff to rapidly acquire the necessary know-how. For this reason, a technical training programme has been set up which was directed by international experts from the FSI, the same persons who are now officiating as the technical delegates in Yabuli.
This technical know-how will be part of the heritage that FISU will pass on during this 24th Winter Universiade for all China. Indeed, Harbin plans on going further and applying for other major events like the “Youth Olympic Days” in 2012 and the Winter Olympic Games in the near future…

The brand new Jumping hills K90 and K125 will be part of this FISU legacy. Today we could see how the organisers managed to set up this Universiade ski jumping competition. We had excellent conditions for this first with a lot of sun and no wind. The women’s competition turned to be an Asian championship as only two countries were registered: China and Japan. Traditionally very strong in ski jumping, Japan took the two first places thanks to Misaki Shigeno and Natsuka Sawaya. They were much stronger than the other girls. Zhenhuan Li, from China, finished at the third place.
39 jumpers took part at the men’s competition. After the first jump, Hyun-Ki from Korea took the lead with 99.5m. Bastian Kaltenboeck from Austria was second with 97.0 m, and Marcin Bachleda from Poland third, also with 97.0 m but with lower points from the judges. The second jump was the best one for Marcin. He moved from the third place to the second. With 94.5m, Hyun-Ki kept his first place and took the Gold Medal. Austrian jumper Bastian Kaltenboeck finished third.

The K125 competition will be held next Monday (23-02) because of the weather forecast.

After the Russian domination of yesterday’s cross country competition, all the observers were curious to see how the other countries could shine at the sprint events.
But, again it was a Russian day as the team managed to catch two gold medals and one bronze.
Russian team placed four skiers at the women’s A Final, but could gain more medals than the gold one. Indeed Natalja Iljina had to fight till the finish line to keep the lead. Bettina Gruber from Switzerland took the silver medal after a fantastic final run. Marina Malets Lisogor from Ukraine finished third.

Even if he is not a sprint specialist, Egor Sorin from Russia was the strongest skier today in Yabuli. He won all his heats without any doubt. But still, the final was not easy as Nobuhito Kashiwabara from Japan was really close to him. Konstatin Glavatskikh, also from Russia finished third, 2 seconds behind.
Egor: “This gold medal was really as surprise for me. Tills the last meter I thought that Nobuhito could be the best, so I’m very happy to win here in China with this very special atmosphere. You know, I use to compete on the World Cup but being here with all the others competitors is really a fantastic experience for me and for all my team”

Today’s results
in PDF format

Ski Jumping K90 – Women

Ski Jumping K90- Men

Cross country- Sprint- Men
Cross country- Sprint- Women

From left to right: Marcin Bachleda, Kim Hyun-Ki and Bastian Kaltenboeck

From left to right: Bettina Gruber, Natalja Iljina, Marina Maletsisogor.

The Russian winners of today’s sprint events