SKI JUMPING: Kobayashi finishes the season with a sweep of every major title

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi (Photo: Krzysztof Sachimata via Wikimedia)

Japan’s 22-year-old Ryoyu Kobayashi finished essentially a complete sweep of the FIS World Cup season with a victory of the final event of the season off the 240 m ski-flying hill in Planica (SLO).

Kobayashi finished second and first in the two Planica competitions and took the seven-jump Planica 7 title as well. So for the season, Kobayashi won every title available:

● Overall World Cup title, with 13 wins in 28 competitions
● Four Hills Tournament over New Year’s in Germany and Austria
● Willingen 5 tournament in Germany February
● Raw Air tournament in Norway in March
● Planica7 ski-flying tournament in March

Amazing!

Beyond Kobayashi, Poland had an excellent season, with Kamil Stoch, Piotr Zyla and Dawid Kubacki finishing 3-4-5 in the World Cup standings.

Norway’s Maren Lundby had already won the seasonal World Cup title, but Germany’s Juliane Seyfarth finished first and second on the final weekend in Chaikovsky (RUS). That was enough to give her a victory in the first “Russian Blue Bird Tour” across the last four events of the season.

Seyfarth finished third in the seasonal standings, behind Lundby and Germany’s Katharina Althaus. Summaries:

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Planica (SLO) ~ 21-24 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 240 m hill I: 1. Markus Eisenbichler (GER), 445.0; 2. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 438.1; 3. Piotr Zyla (POL), 437.3; 4. Timi Zajc (SLO), 422.5; 5. Domen Prevc (SLO), 415.2.

Men’s 240 m hill II: 1. Kobayashi (JPN), 464.9; 2. D. Prevc (SLO), 444.0; 3. Eisenbichler (GER), 442.5; 4. Zyla (POL), 438.6; 5. Zajc (SLO), 425.4.

World Cup Final Standings: Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 2,085; 2. Stefan Kraft (AUT), 1,349; 3. Kamil Stoch (POL), 1,288; 4. Piotr Zyla (POL), 1,131; 5. Dawid Kubacki (POL), 988.

Team 240 m hill: 1. Poland (Wolny, Stoch, Kubacki, Zyla), 1,627.9; 2. Germany, 1,619.8; 3. Slovenia, 1,603.1; 4. Japan, 1,560.8; 5. Austria, 1,520.8.

Plancia 7 Final Standings: 1. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 1,601.3; 2. Markus Eisenbichler (GER), 1,572.1; 3. Timi Zajc (SLO), 1,513.5; 4. Piotr Zyla (POL), 1,507.4; 5. Demon Prevc (SLO), 1,499.8.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Chaikovsky (RUS) ~ 23-24 March 2019
(Full results here)

Women’s 102 m hill: 1. Juliane Seyfarth (GER), 219.0; 2. Katharina Althaus (GER), 213.0; 3. Sara Takanashi (JPN), 212.9; 4. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT), 206.0; 5. Chiara Hoelzel (AUT), 204.0.

Women’s 140 m hill: 1. Maren Lundby (NOR), 270.9; 2. Seyfarth (GER), 258.0; 3. Nika Kriznar (SLO), 247.1; 4. Seifriedsberger (AUT), 238.6; 5. Althaus (GER), 236.0.

Russia Blue Bird Tour Final Standings: 1. Juliane Seyfarth (GER), 959.9; 2. Maren Lundby (NOR), 939.0; 3. Katharina Althaus (GER), 896.9; 4. Chiara Hoelzl (AUT), 861.3; 5. Nika Kriznar (SLO), 861.0.

World Cup Final Standings: 1. Maren Lundby (NOR), 1.909; 2. Katharina Althaus (GER), 1,493; 3. Juliane Seyfarth (GER), 1,451; 4. Sara Takanashi (JPN), 1,190; 5. Nika Kriznar (SLO), 826.