Sara Takanashi won this summer's first FIS Ladies' Grand Prix. With the longest jumps of the day on 98 m and 97 m, the Japanese scored a total of 243.4 points. Her teammate Yuki Ito and Daniela Iraschko-Stolz finished second and third in Courchevel, France.

Takanashi said afterwards: "“I'm very happy because it didn't got that well for me during the last couple of weeks. But I was able to improve my performance in the competition and I'm really happy about that. Of course, the winter is most important but the summer is important to lay the foundation for a good shape then."

Ito jumped on 93 m and 95 m for 239.0 points and said: "This year we don't have any big events, like World Championships or Olympics, so I consider it a year to set the course in training for the next 2 or 3 years. I always want to achieve the best possible result and that's what I'm working for."

Strong Austrians

Austrian overall World Cup winner Daniela Iraschko-Stolz followed in third, already 15.4 points behind with jumps on 91.5 m and 91 m. Iraschko-Stolz said: "I consider the summer a testing phase. I made my first jumps here in Courchevel and had a good start. The system is already working well, but I still have room for improvement at the take-off and the inrun-position. And I also need to do some equipment testing, but that's what summer is for. We achieved a good result as a team today and this makes it fun to continue working."

Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Eva Pinkelnig completed the very good team result for Austria. Seifriedsberger was fourth with 94.5 m and 88m and 221.2 points, Pinkelnig came in sixth with 218.4 points.

Rupprecht best German

Germany's Anna Rupprecht was fifth with 91 m and 92.5 m and a total of 219.2 points. The team Junior's World Champion achieved her first Top 10 result on a World Cup or Grand Prix level. With Katharina Althaus (214.9 points) in seventh, another German finished in the Top 10. Spela Rogelj and French Julia Clair shared the eighth place with 214.2 points, Irina Avvakumova was the best Russian in tenth with 213.4 points, followed by her teammate Sofia Tikhonova.

Points for Kykkaenen and Englund

Behind Canadian Taylor Henrich, Line Jahr was the best Norwegian in 13th, Evelyn Insam came in 16th for Italy. Finland scored some points with Julia Kykkaenen in 20th, Nita Englund of the USA came in 23rd.

Source: fis-ski.com