Les Slovènes sont en forme
Après leur succès par équipes à Zakopane, les sauteurs Slovènes poursuivent sur leur lancée en signant un très beau doublé sur le tremplin Japonais de Sapporo.
Peter Prevc s'impose avec deux sauts à 137m et 134.5m pour un total de 294.6 points. Son coéquipier Jernej Damjan termine deuxième avec 277 points devant le héros local, Noriaki Kasai avec 272.1 points.
Prevc remporte son second succès en coupe du monde, 13 jours après sa première victoire à Kulm Bad Mitterndorf. Pour la Slovénie il s'agit du premier doublé de son histoire, pour Damjan c'est son premier podium depuis février 2008.
Cette étape Japonaise disputée sans la plupart des meilleurs mondiaux permet aujourd'hui à Ronan Lamy-Chappuis de terminer à une jolie 11e place, meilleur résultat de sa jeune carrière.
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Les réactions :
Peter Prevc (SLO): "It was a nice competition, the wind didn't change much and that's special here in Sapporo. I made really good jumps, maybe the second one was even better than the first. I'm really satisfied today. I know that many think I'm now a favorite for Sochi and that puts more pressure on me. I have to use this pressure in my favor and be more focused on my jumping and more motivated in training. Wearing the yellow bib was one of my childhood dreams and it's a confirmation of the good work, not only for me but also for the coaches."
Jernej Damjan (SLO): "It was a really nice competition, I'm really, really happy that I could do two good jumps and even more happy about the result. Japan is a really good place for me, I also won my first COC competition here a long time ago. I like Japan, I always like coming here. It's great. The next competition here will be really soon, early in the morning. I hope that the winds will be as it was today and we will have one more nice competition."
Noriaki Kasai (JPN): "I'm not satisfied with my jumps and the result. I made a mistake and was late at the take off in both rounds. It gives me confidence that I was on the podium despite this mistake. The wind was not stable, but I don't care. I hope that I will have a better timing tomorrow and hopefully then I can win."
Photo : Nordic Focus