Urša Bogataj won the women's ski jumping title at Beijing 2022 ©Getty Images

Urša Bogataj clinched victory in the women's normal hill ski jumping competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with the Slovenian's maiden elite triumph coming at the National Ski Jumping Centre.

Bogataj came into the Games as a contender for the title having threatened to clinch World Cup victories throughout the season.

The 26-year-old had earned five podiums in the 11 World Cup events to lie third in the season standings, behind Austria’s Marita Kramer and Germany’s Katharina Althaus.

With Kramer absent due to a positive COVID-19 test, Althaus appeared to have seized her chance to improve on her Pyeongchang 2018 silver medal.

Althaus led the standings at the halfway mark of the competition with a score of 121.1 points, with Bogataj second on 118.0.

Bogataj led a trio of Slovenian challengers, with Nika Križnar and Ema Klinec completing the top four on 113.9 and 112.1, respectively.

A second-round jump of 100 metres saw Bogataj receive 121.0 points, with the Slovenian finishing on 239.0 overall.

Urša Bogataj had been second at the halfway point of the competition ©Getty Images
Urša Bogataj had been second at the halfway point of the competition ©Getty Images

Althaus proved unable to match her rival, with the German finishing as the runner-up for the second successive Winter Olympics on 236.8 points.

"In the World Cup I still don’t have a victory," said Bogataj.

"I was a couple of times on the podium this year, but because of that I didn’t expect that this could happen.

"But today I know, I was lucky.

"I did two very good jumps, I was in the right time and the right place."

Bogataj’s room-mate Kriznar completed the podium places, ensuring gold and bronze for the Slovenian team.

Kriznar finished on a total of 232.0 points, with Japan’s Sara Takanashi outside the medal positions on 224.1 points in fourth.