This was the first weekend of jumping off the massive ski-flying hills of more than 200 m, in this case the 235 m hill near Obertsdorf (GER), with three events and three different winners.
Slovenia’s Timi Zajc was the surprise winner on Friday, earning his first World Cup win with a sensational second jump. Then the seasonal leader, Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi took his 10th win of the season with a tight decision over Germany’s Markus Eisenbichler on Saturday. Said the winner, “I found the right feeling for Ski Flying today, yesterday I didn’t have that. I don’t know if it will continue like that tomorrow, but I will definitely enjoy Ski Flying again. Ski Flying is physically stressful, but you should not think too much, then it works.”
On Sunday, Poland’s triple Olympic Champion Kamil Stoch won his first World Cup event of the season, coming from behind to edge Russia’s Evgeniy Klimov and teammate Dawid Kubacki (third). Kobayashi had the lead after the first jump, but faltered in the second round and finished ninth.
Two-thirds through the World Cup season, Kobayashi continues to enjoy a big lead: 1,380-929 over Stoch, with Austria’s Stefan Kraft (917) third. Summaries:
FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Obertsdorf (GER) ~ 1-3 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s 235 m hill I: 1. Timi Zajc (SLO), 430.1; 2. Dawid Kubacki (POL), 424.8; 3. Markus Eisenbichler (GER), 423.3; 4. Piotr Zyla (POL), 421.8; 5. Kamil Stoch (POL), 420.5.
Men’s 235 m hill II: 1. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 427.0; 2. Eisenbichler (GER), 426.5; 3. Stefan Kraft (AUT), 421.7; 4. Zyla (POL), 417.2; 5. Robert Johansson (NOR), 414.4.
Men’s 235 m hill III: 1. Stoch (POL), 413.2; 2. Evgeniy Klimov (RUS),. 407.9; 3. Kubacki (POL), 405.4; 4. Zyla (POL), 400.4; 5. Daniel Andre Tande (NOR), 398.3.
