SGP: Herola secures victory in Oberwiesenthal

Ilkka Herola is the winner of the men's first Individual competition of the 2022 FIS Summer Grand Prix.

Ryota Yamamoto was in the lead after the Ski Jumping competition on the Fichtelbergschanze today.

After a lot of fog during the womens competition, the sky cleared up for the Ski Jumping round of the mens Individual. 
Unfortunately, also the wind started to pick up and made the competition difficult for the jury. 
In the end PCR winner Ryota Yamamoto jumped to the top with 98 and was the first one to start into the 5 km rollerski race up the Fichtelberg in the afternoon.

Rank 2 after jumping went to Franz-Josef Rehrl from Austria, who landed at 102 meters (133.7 pts) and went into the course only 4 seconds after the Japanese.

The furthest distance of the day was reached by Ilkka Herola with 104.5 meters (126.5 pts). Therewith, the Finnish Summer Grand Prix winner from 2021 took the third place after the Ski Jumping round and went into the race 33 seconds after Yamamoto.

A total of five athletes started the rollerski competition up the Fichtelberg within the first minute.

Rehrl went strongly into the race, catching up to Yamamoto at the 2.5 km mark, taking over the lead. 
The Japanese fell further back during the second lap through the Sparkasse Skiarena and was 2.6 seconds behin the Austrian leader after 5 km. 
Meanwhile, Ilkka Herola slowly fought his way up and reduced the distance to the leader to 22 seconds after half the race.

At the same time, Johannes Rydzek who placed 5th after jumping with a 44 second backlog, reduced his distance to the leaders to 34.7 sec. 
At the 7.5 km mark, Herola (+16 sec) continued to fight his way up, before going into the final climb to the Fichtelberg. 
Rydzek managed to catch up to the leaders and overtook Rehrl, who couldn’t keep up with the high pace.
The German reached the finish line only 3.6 sec after Herola, who secured the victory for Finland. Third place went to Rehrl, 24 seconds behind.

Results: Men Individual SJ, Oberwiesenthal, 28.08.2022
Overall Results: Men Individual, Oberwiesenthal, 28.08.2022