Ryoyu Kobayashi takes the Grand Slam
Jan 06, 2019·Ski Jumping
Ryoyu Kobayashi made history! The Japanese also won the fourth competition of the 67th 4-Hills-Tournament on Sunday and is now the third Grand Slam winner in history. The first two were Sven Hannawald (2002) and Kamil Stoch (2018).
In the final event of the Tournament in Bischofshofen, the Japanese was only fourth after the first round with his jump of 135 m. In the second round Ryoyu Kobayashi then showed his skills again, jumped on 137.5 m and secured a clear win with his total of 282.1 points. The 22-year-old showed no nerves in the fight for his first big title - an impressive performance of this season's highflyer!
Dawid Kubacki of Poland, who set a new hill record with 145 m in the qualification earlier today, was also very strong in the competition and finished second with 138 m and 130 m and 268.3 points.
On his home hill, local hero Stefan Kraft made the many fans happy with his great performance and the third place with 134 m and 131.5 m and 267.5 points. If he would not have had the bad day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen where he failed to qualify for the second round, he would have definitely been among the best in the overall ranking as well.
The two Germans Stephan Leyhe and Markus Eisenbichler, who was in the lead after the first round, closely missed the podium on the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in fourth and fifth, but they still had a lot to celebrate. Markus Eisenbichler could defend his second place in the overall ranking, Stephan Leyhe claimed the third place in the 4-Hills-Tournament with a great jump in today's final round.
The sixth place in Bischofshofen went to Roman Koudelka of the Czech Republic. Behind him, Halvor Egner Granerud was the best of the Norwegians on a very good seventh place. Kilian Peier of Switzerland also ended the 4-Hills-Tournament on a high note with the eight place and the tenth place in the overall ranking.
Granerud's teammate Robert Johansson was fifth after the first half of the competition, but he lost some ground in the second round and finished ninth.
Ryoyu Kobayashi won the 67th 4-Hills-Tournament with 1098.0 points, followed by Markus Eisenbichler (1035.9 points) and Stephan Leyhe (1014.1 points).
In the overall World Cup, Ryoyu Kobayashi could extend his lead. With 956 points he is clearly ahead of Poland's Piotr Zyla (529 points) and Kamil Stoch (504 points).
The Ski Jumping World Cup continues next weekend in Val di Fiemme (ITA).
Here's what the athletes said after the competition in Bischofshofen:
David Siegel (48th): Until about 10 minutes ago I was totally satisfied with this Tournament, now on the final stretch I took the wrong turn. The inrun track was okay, I just have problems with the timing here on this hill. In the qualification I was too late at the take-off, now I was too early.
Andreas Wellinger (15th): The second jump was a better one and that’s a lot more fun again. It’s tough for me, but I took the right steps in the second round today. I have to keep on working.
Kamil Stoch (12th): Ryoyu showed a top performance during the entire tournament and I know how hard this is and how difficult it is to just focus on yourself. For me, it wasn’t so easy because I had some problems with the inrun position and I tried to improve that during the whole Tournament. I’m happy about the sixth place, this means that I’m still on a good level, but there’s still a lot to do.
Daniel Huber (11th): I’m very satisfied with the ninth place in the overall ranking, but more would have been possible. The first jump today was not good, but I’m moving in the right direction and the second one was very promising.
Markus Eisenbichler (5th): This 4-Hills-Tournament was amazing. In the second round, I was a bit nervous. I was very late at the take-off and that’s why I’m only fifth. But the second place in the overall ranking is great, this was my best 4-Hills-Tournament ever. I’m happy about this good results because the whole world is watching the 4-Hills-Tournament, I enjoy every day. Ryoyu Kobayashi is the well-deserved winner.
Stephan Leyhe (4th): I can’t say much right now. I closely missed the podium twice during this Tournament, and now I made it in the overall ranking. I’m very, very happy about that. The second jump was really good. It’s always difficult to repeat such a jump but I’ll try to save it and just jump with this much joy in the future.
Stefan Kraft (3rd): I knew that I’m in a good shape and I already showed that in Oberstdorf. After the disappointment in Garmisch-Partenkirchen I enjoyed jumping on the last two hills, that we know really well.
Ryoyu Kobayashi (1st): After my second jump I was just waiting, because I had given my all already. I’m very happy about my win, it’s unbelievable. Noriaki Kasai is my boss at our sponsor and I’m happy that he was the first one to congratulate me.
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