January 22, 2009 – The winter period of the Ladies Continental cup in Ski Jumping commenced in the middle of December and is now half-way. Nine of 19 Continental Cup competitions have already taken place and the mid-season balance can be seen as very positive.

After the kick-off of the series in the US and Canada before Christmas, the circus returned to Central Europe for competitions in Germany and today in Toblach, Italy. The mid-season ranking leader is Lindsey Van from the USA with a total of 482 points. Runner-up is Ulrike Graessler of Germany (463 points) ahead of her teammate Anna Haefele (441 points).

The most victories – three – so far this winter were collected by both Anna Haefele and the ‘veteran’ Daniela Iraschko (Aut), who started her season after an injury break only in the New Year and immediately won three competitions in a row. There has been great change among the athletes in the top positions which is also shown in the overall ranking, where there are athletes from six nations among the top ten.

“We are really satisfied with the development of the ladies Continental Cup. So far we had no cancellations and were able to organize the highest number of competitions compared with the several past seasons. The ladies Continental Cup is now in its fifth season and we are happy that we are included in the program of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships this year. We are looking forward to Liberec 2009,” stated Chika Yoshida, FIS Coordinator for the ladies Continental Cup.

The preparations for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships for the lady jumpers will take place at the upcoming Continental Cups in Slovenia, Poland and Norway. After Liberec 2009 the ladies will conclude their season in Japan with competitions in Zao and Sapporo.