Two individual competitions were on the schedule at the World Cup in Japan. In the end, the Austrian and the Slovenian secured victory.

The first surprise came just a few days before the World Cup in Sapporo:

Ski jumping legend Noriaki Kasai was called up to the Japanese team and is back in the World Cup action at the age of 51. On Friday, he qualified for his 570th World Cup. 

The qualification victory, however, was secured by the Austrian Manuel Fettner

Saturday – Individual competition

The first run started at 4 pm local time. Here, Japan's Ryōyū Kobayashi took the lead. He was unable to defend his lead of 1.7 points over second-placed Stefan Kraft in the second run. Instead, Kraft won the World Cup ahead of Kobayashi and Germany's Andreas Wellinger. 

Noriaki Kasai finished in 30th place and was therefore able to celebrate one World Cup point.

To the official final result

Sunday - Individual competition

In the second individual competition, Domen Prevc stood at the top of the podium. With jumps of 134.7 and 138.9 meters (273.6 points), the Slovenian beat Ryōyū Kobayashi (269.8 points), who came second again, and Norway's Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (261.7 points). This is Prevc's first World Cup victory since 2019.

To the official final result

In the overall World Cup rankings, Ryōyū Kobayashi (1181 points) has now overtaken Andreas Wellinger (1102 points) thanks to his two second places. Stefan Kraft is still the leader with 1386 points.

The next World Cup will continue from February 22 to 25. For the second time after the Four Hills Tournament, the World Cup will be held in Oberstdorf. This is where two individual competitions and a super team competition will be taking place on the Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze.