COC-L: Third win in a row for Avvakumova
It was definitely the weekend of Irina Avvakumova in Oernskoeldsvik, Sweden. After her victories in the last two competitions, the Russian also stood on top of the podium in the third and final Continental Cup competition. Germany's Ramona Straub and Finn Julia Kykkaenen shared the podium with her as second and third.
After the first round it seemed as if it would be the day of Ramona Straub. With the longest jump of the day on 99.5 m she had a lead of 8.5 points and was at that point follwed by Irina Avvakumova with 97.5 m and Julia Kykkaenen with 91 m.
Irina Avvakumova then took her third win in a row this weekend with a very good performance in the second round. A jump on 96.5 m earned her a total of 246.5 points and with that she came in one point ahead of the second placed athlete. "Now I am a bit cold but happy! I was a little bit early at my first jump today and had tail wind, but at the second jump I was more successful. After this competition we will go to the World Cup in Trondheim and then we hope to get enough World Cup point for competing in Oslo", the happy winner said.
Compared to her strong performance in the first round, Ramona Straub's second jump on 90.5 m was not that good, so she lost some points and could not keep up with the Russian. 245.5 points were enough for the second place, so the 19-year-old German achieved her second podium finish this weekend. "I never expected such good results as I had this weekend and in the overall Continental Cup. So I am very happy. Now I will not compete more this season, but will concentrate on finishing my education. Then we will see what happens next season", the German resumed.
The third place went to Julia Kykkaenen of Finland, who was already third at halftime and ended the competition on this position. She jumped on 93 m in the final round with 232.5 points she came in third, only 0.5 points ahead of the fourth-placed Russian Anastasiya Gladysheva. After her break due to injury, this was a successful weekend for Kykkaenen with the places one, two and three after her good performance at the World Championships. "Today my technique was better, although I was still a bit late at the take-off. I am happy with my thirde place today and my second place in the overall Continental Cup. Next I am going to Trondheim for the World Cup and then hopefully to Oslo, so I still have some competitions left this season", Kykkänen said.
In the third and final competition in Oernsdoeldsvik, Gladysheva was followed by Nita Englund (USA), Alexandra Kustova (RUS), Pauline Hessler (GER), Sofya Tikhonova (RUS) and Nina Lussi (USA) on a shared eighth place, and Charlotte Mitchell (CAN).
The ladies' Continental Cup series of the 2012/13 season ended with this competition. The overall win went to Russian Irina Avvakumova with a total of 350 points, ahead of Julia Kykkaenen (240 points) and Ramona Straub (230 points).