The women's ski jumping normal hill event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was a Slovenian party on Saturday, as Ursa Bogataj took gold, ahead of Germany's Katharina Althaus with silver and fellow Slovenian Nika Kriznar with bronze.

Sara Takanashi of Japan just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth, while a further Slovenian, world champion Ema Klinec, was fifth.

"I still didn't realize," Bogataj told reporters of her initial reaction after winning at the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, north China. 

"It felt very good that the medal is mine and then I saw Nika has one too and I was even more happy," she said.

Bogataj jumped a hill record of 108 meters in the first round, but higher judges' marks put Althaus, the Olympic silver medallist from Pyeongchang in 2018, ahead.

Undaunted, the Slovenian delivered a strong second jump to take gold and was rushed by her teammates upon landing.

Already after the first jump, Kriznar ran to Bogataj and fell into her arms. When Kriznar – last season's World Cup crystal globe winner – put in a smashing second jump and it became clear an Olympic medal was in the bag, her teammates pounced on her with a group hug.

Although competing against each other, the bond in the team was clear for all to see.

"I think we have very good team spirit and we – me and Nika – feel like sisters, and very good friends. And our dreams came true today," said Bogataj, beaming.

"When two good friends stand on the podium at Olympic Games, that's just a dream."

For Althaus, the result was bittersweet, as she hoped her strong performance might finally land her gold, after silver four years ago.

"I was angry and happy at the same time, because I thought this time it would be enough," she said.

"I hoped it would be enough for me to stand at the top (of the podium), but I can't blame myself, I made two super jumps today and I'm mega happy."

"It took a moment, but the prevailing feeling now is joy... It feels really really good, and I'm just really happy.”

This was women's ski jumping's third appearance at the Winter Olympics, after it was introduced in Sochi in 2014. And the women will have a second chance to medal on Monday in the mixed team event, which is making its Olympic debut at the Beijing Games.

For the winner, the energetic and enthusiastic performances on Saturday will be a great advertisement for the women's sport, which has long competed for equal billing with the men's events.

"I hope ski jumping in Slovenia for girls will become more popular and maybe in the future it will be as popular as (for the) boys!" said Bogataj.

(Reporting from Zhangjiakou)