· · en
Prevc secures overall World Cup title in Lahti
Philipp Raimund celebrated his first World Cup victory on Friday – benefiting from the disqualification of Domen Prevc. Vladimir Zografski reached a World Cup podium for the first time in his career, securing a historic result for Bulgaria. The second individual competition on Saturday was won by Austria’s Daniel Tschofenig. In Sunday’s SuperTeam event, Finland provided a sensation in front of their home crowd as Antti Aalto and Niko Kytösaho finished in third place.
After the competitions at the Kulm in Austria, the ski jumpers travelled to Lahti, Finland, where the next World Cup weekend took place at the traditional Salpausselkä hill. The schedule was particularly tight and started on Friday with an unusual individual competition. The event served as a replacement for the competition cancelled in Ruka in November and consisted of only one scoring round. There was also no qualification. After a training jump in the morning, the athletes went straight into the competition in the afternoon.
For Lahti conditions, the competition was relatively calm. The Finnish hill is normally known for challenging wind conditions, but throughout the weekend the weather remained fairly stable. Nevertheless, the event still delivered plenty of excitement.
Philipp Raimund secured his first World Cup victory with a jump of 122.5 meters and 129.3 points. For the 25-year-old, the success came somewhat unexpectedly, as Domen Prevc had initially taken a clear lead in the competition. However, the Slovenian was later disqualified during the equipment control because his skis were too long in relation to his body weight. As a result, Raimund moved up to the top of the results list.
Austria’s Daniel Tschofenig finished in second place, while Vladimir Zografski came third to claim the first World Cup podium finish of his career and the first podium result ever for Bulgaria in ski jumping. Despite the disqualification, Prevc still secured the overall World Cup title during the weekend.
On Saturday, the usual World Cup schedule returned. In front of well-filled stands and a lively atmosphere, the day began with the qualification round, which was won by Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi with a jump of 126 meters.
The competition itself developed into an exciting battle for the win. In the end, Daniel Tschofenig came out on top with jumps of 130.5 and 129.5 meters. The Austrian had been in third place after the first round behind Kobayashi and Prevc, but improved in the final round and secured victory with his second jump. At the same time, the win marked the 300th World Cup victory for an Austrian ski jumper.
Domen Prevc confirmed his strong form despite the disqualification the day before and finished second with two jumps of 130 meters. Third place went to Ryoyu Kobayashi, who remained among the top athletes with two consistent jumps.
Philipp Raimund narrowly missed the podium. The winner of Friday’s competition again delivered two strong jumps of 128 and 129 meters and finished in fourth place. Norway’s Marius Lindvik followed in fifth.
The Finnish team also impressed over the weekend. While Antti Aalto had already reached the top ten with a fifth place finish on Friday, Niko Kytösaho also delivered a strong performance on Saturday, finishing eighth in front of the home crowd.
The weekend concluded on Sunday with a SuperTeam competition, where 15 nations competed with two athletes each. Three rounds were held, and Austria quickly established itself as the strongest team.
Daniel Tschofenig and Jan Hörl confirmed their status as favourites with consistently strong jumps. With a total of 858.6 points, the Austrian duo won clearly ahead of the Slovenian team with Domen Prevc and Anže Lanišek.
The Finnish team created a great atmosphere in the stadium: Antti Aalto and Niko Kytösaho used the support of the home crowd to secure third place. It was Finland’s first World Cup podium finish in twelve years.
Just behind them, the German duo of Philipp Raimund and Felix Hoffmann finished fourth, missing the podium by just over one point. The competition otherwise ran smoothly, although the Japanese team of Ren Nikaido and Ryoyu Kobayashi was eliminated early after Nikaido was disqualified for an equipment violation similar to the one that had affected Domen Prevc earlier in the weekend.