The extended Summer Grand Prix 2017 is coming to an end: two last Individual Gundersen competitions are on schedule at the maiden edition of Nordic Combined summer events at Slovenia’s big Nordic centre in Planica.
The Summer Grand Prix rules differ from the World Cup ruleset int he winter and have the potential to upset the current overall standings considerably: “Overall winner of the FIS Summer Grand Prix is the athlete who took part in all competitions and has the highest number of points.”
Even though current leader Mario Seidl from Austria holds a comfortable lead of 340 points, he will not be able to win the Summer Grand Prix 2017 as he is not on start this weekend, his team prioritising a training camp on snow. With Germany also sending a young B-team and therefore taking Eric Frenzel and Fabian Rießle out of the equation, athletes like Estonia’s Kristjan Ilves might get a very good shot at going home with a big part of the total of 14.000 EUR prize money that the top three athletes of the summer receive for their efforts.
Still, a total of 64 athletes are entered to start on Planica’s HS 139 large hill and the new roller-skiing track in the facility. The upcoming weekend will also see the international comeback of Norwegian shooting start Jarl Riiber, who returns after an extended break due to shoulder injury. Other superstars present will be Olympic Champion Jørgen Graabak and medallist teammates Magnus Moan, and Magnus Krog as well as Jason Lamy Chappuis and Francois Braud.
Among the young athletes getting a chance to prove themselves are Japanese jumping sensation Hisaki Nagamine, Ukrainian Youth Cup winner Dmytro Mazurchuk and Junior World Championship medallists Martin Hahn (GER) and Laurent Muhlethaler (FRA), who already impressed with a sixth rank in Montafon.
The program
PLANICA
Friday, 29.09.
15:00 Official Training HS 139
17:00 Provisional Competition Round HS 139
Saturday 30.09.
09:00 Trial Round HS 139
10:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 139
12:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Sunday 01.10.
09:00 Trial Round HS 139
10:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 139
12:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Quick Facts
Hill
Velikanka, Planica Nordic Center HS 139
Track
Planica Nordic Center
5x 2 km roller-ski loop
