For the first time in three years, there is no Pole in the best five of the Junior Junior Championships competition. A year ago, the fifth in Planica was Tymoteusz Amilkiewicz, two years ago Jan Habdas won the bronze medal in Whistler, and Kacper Tomasiak was just behind the podium.
This time the good one series She was interrupted and although it is not like Poles completely cut off the junior leaders jumpsthese are appetites for what results they will achieve at night from Wednesday to Thursday Polish time in Lake Placid were much larger.
Joniak and Tomasiak in TOP10, Byrski with great promotion. Amilkiewicz fought on the helmet
It seemed that Kacper Tomasiak would be a candidate for a good result in the USA. He caught a nice form in FIS Cup, after arriving at Lake Placid he looked good at training, and in the trial series before the competition was the fourth, losing less than eight points to the podium. Until now, the strength of Polish juniors at the world championships has always been that they were doing very well in the competition, they were able to mobilize. But this time it was the opposite. In the first series Tomasiak landed on the 90th meter, while the rivals to fight for medals jumped and a few meters away.
Already after the first round of the competition we knew that this year none of the Poles of the individual medal of the SMJ would win. The highest classified was the Polish champion from autumn, Klemens Joniak (90 meters), in eighth place. Behind him was the ninth Tomasiak, and Amilkiewicz (85 meters) and Szymon Byrski (84 meters) were ex aequo in the 24th position.
In the final attempts, Poles mostly jumped on and better, but still a few meters behind the best competitors competition. Eventually, Klemens Joniak (93.5 meters) took seventh, and Kacper Tomasiak (92 meters) eighth place. Szymon Byrski (90 meters), who climbed the 14th position from the 24th place. Unfortunately, by four positions, Tymoteusz Amilkiewicz fell on the 28th place. After the jump to just 82.5 meters, he reacted very emotionally and suddenly until he began to hit the helmet, clearly dissatisfied with a failed test.
0.4 points decided who became the world champion. Title defended for the first time in 31 years
The competition for the gold medal was decided with great emotions. After the first series, the American Tate Frantz had only 0.3 points advantage over the Austrian Stephan Embacher and 1.4 points over his compatriot Simon Steinberger. What happened in finale Nobody would predict, however.
First, Steinberger gave a great jump at a slight wind in the back (0.13 meters per second) and obtaining 97 meters secured the podium and bronze medal. Embacher, a defender of the title from a year ago, jumped a meter closer, but in more difficult conditions (0.25 meters per second of the wind on the back of the hill), so he overtook him by 2.8 points. Only Frantz stayed upstairs.
The definite favorite of the competition, according to most experts, could not, however, make a second jump through strong gusts of wind. When they calmed down, Frantz entered the beam over seven minutes from the beginning of waiting for the final test. He was finally allowed to start. The conditions were very favorable and the American used them. He jumped 98.5 meters, the furthest in the whole competition. However, he had as much as 0.34 meters per second of the wind, and the line “to beat” indicated 99.5 meters. And Frantz finished the competition by only 0.4 points behind the embacher. When he saw that he did not become a junior world champion until he grabbed his head. But Stephan Embacher looked surprised.
Therefore, the Austrian became the first jumper from Janne Ahonen, who defended the title of Junior World Champion. Fini succeeded in 1993 and 1994 in Harrachove and Breitenang. Embacher did it in Planica and now Lake Placid. He defeats the American again, because a year ago Erik Belshaw won the silver medal in Slovenia. Simon Steinberger's bronze means that only two countries – Austria and the USA – will get an additional starting place for the next year in the World Cup. They can use it from the competition in Lahti. Germany will lose an additional amount. The starting site is not named, but only jumpers in junior age can use it.
Poles with a great chance for a medal in a team
Pity Polish The jumpers did not succeed more, but it is also not that the top junior jumping has gone around. Others with two players in the top ten like a year ago and although this is the result below expectations, and the loss of 21.2 points to the podium stings a bit, then – however it does not sound – good that it is not worse.
On Friday, when a team competition is played in Lake Placid, Poles will have a great chance for a silver or bronze medal. It remains to be hoped that in this case they will show much better jumps and there will be able to reach for what is within their reach. The competition is scheduled at midnight from Friday to Saturday.