Deschwanden and Naito claim their first World Cup victories

Windy conditions made for varied and challenging competitions during the two individual events held this weekend at the famous Holmenkollen hill in Oslo, Norway.

Saturday’s individual competition was marked by changing winds and dense cloud cover. In the battle for victory, a duel developed between Deschwanden and Ortner. The Austrian held a narrow lead after the first round, but Deschwanden responded with the longest jump of the final round to secure his first World Cup win. Despite the difficult conditions, the 35‑year‑old Swiss jumper kept his nerve. With jumps of 132.5 and 130.5 metres and a total of 263.1 points, Gregor Deschwanden claimed the first World Cup victory of his career, becoming the oldest first-time winner in the history of ski jumping.

Close behind, Austria’s Maximilian Ortner recorded jumps of 132.0 and 126.5 metres and finished just 1.4 points behind the winner. The podium was completed by Japan’s Naoki Nakamura, who reached 128.5 and 129.0 metres for 251.7 points and also delivered a strong performance at Holmenkollen.

The first day of competition was shaped by constantly changing visibility and wind, which posed major challenges for many athletes. Several top jumpers struggled already in the first round, with some missing the final altogether. Among them were overall World Cup winner Domen Prevc and Germany’s Olympic champion Philipp Raimund. Prevc managed only 117.5 metres to finish 42nd, while Raimund placed 36th with a jump of 119.0 metres. Andreas Wellinger was the best German athlete in 17th place, followed by Karl Geiger (19th) and Pius Paschke (29th).

See the official results from Saturday

Sunday began early for the men with the qualification round for the second individual competition, which was won by Domen Prevc. During the competition itself, wind gusts increased significantly throughout the round, leading to unstable flights and several longer interruptions. A number of athletes struggled to control their jumps, including Felix Hoffmann, who landed after just 95 metres and narrowly avoided a fall.

At this point, Philipp Raimund decided to withdraw from the competition and skip his jump. Despite the difficult conditions, the jury completed the first round and initially scheduled a second round. However, it was cancelled shortly afterwards due to the continuing strong and gusty winds. As a result, the competition was decided after one round.

Under these circumstances, Japan’s Tomofumi Naito secured his first World Cup victory with a jump of 131.5 metres. He finished just 0.1 points ahead of Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek, who jumped 127.0 metres to take second place. Finland’s Antti Aalto placed third with 131.0 metres and 127.6 points, celebrating the first World Cup podium finish of his career.

Behind the top three, Naoki Nakamura and Niko Kytösaho performed strongly in fourth and fifth place, while Austria’s Stephan Embacher finished seventh as the best Austrian athlete. Following his qualification win earlier in the day, Domen Prevc jumped 127.5 metres in the competition and placed ninth.

For the German team, Sunday brought slightly better results than the day before: Karl Geiger finished 11th with a jump of 127.5 metres, closely followed by Andreas Wellinger in 12th place. Ben Bayer reached 119.5 metres to finish 25th. Saturday’s winner Gregor Deschwanden was unable to repeat his performance in the turbulent conditions and placed 38th with a jump of 116.5 metres.

See the official results from Sunday