In Zao, Japan, extreme weather conditions once again prevailed. This time the gusty headwind, heavy fog and light snowfall made life difficult for the athletes and caused delays. Maren Lundby was not bothered by everything and showed two very good jumps on 96 and 92.5 meters. She was just ahead of her team-mate Anna Odine Strøm, who could hardly believe her luck when, after finishing third in the first round, number one lit up after her final jump: the first podium was safe and the cheering in the Norwegian team was great. Carina Vogt dropped just behind the Norwegian, so that Strøm was ranked second followed by the German. Some athletes such as Zao winner Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (AUT, Fischer) or the World Cup leader Katharina Althaus (GER, Fischer) were unlucky with the conditions and were unusually far behind after the first round. The Austrian was able to improve from nine to five, Katharina Althaus was eighth behind Alexandra Kustova (RUS, Fischer) after being 17th in the first round.
