It's time for Ski Flying

The World Cup in Willingen is history, Stefan Kraft, Karl Geiger and Co. are moving on the next highlight, Ski Flying. This winter's first Ski Flying event is on the calendar now for the world's best ski jumpers. Athletes and fans can look forward to jumps over 240 m on the Kulm-hill.

Thinking about Ski Flying, the athletes of Slovenia and Norway probably come to mind first. Both nations have traditionally strong Ski Flyers on their teams. It's not a coincidence that the World Champions were mostly of these two nations recently:

2018 the team of Norway claimed the title and Norway's Daniel Andre Tande is reigning World Champion.
2016 the Norwegian team and Slovenia's Peter Prevc took the titles.
2014 Severin Freund, who is currently still working on his comeback after a long break due to an injury, won the title in Harrachov (CZE), the event could not take place due to the strong wind.
2012 the already retired Robert Kranjec of Slovenia won gold. Kranjec has always been one of the best Ski Flyers in the field. Nobody was that low and elegant over the hill and could still fly as far as Kranjec.

Ryoyu Kobayashi and Markus Eisenbichler
Of course, athletes of other nations also want to fight for the top spots this weekend, Ryoyu Kobayashi and Markus Eisenbichler will probably be especially motivated. Both fought for the Ski Flying World Cup overall title last winter when Eisenbichler was in the lead until the final day in Planica but Kobayashi then took the final win of the season and came in ahead of Eisenbichler.

There will only be one more Ski Flying event on the World Cup calendar after this weekend in Bad Mitterndorf: This season's World Cup final will be held in Vikersund (NOR) with one team and one individual competition. This means that the two competitions on the Kulm-hill will be crucial when it comes to the Ski Flying World Cup overall.

Another highlight of the season will then be the Ski Flying World Championships in Planica (SLO) from March 20th - 23rd, but these competitions will not count for the World Cup.

Stefan Kraft
Overall World Cup leader. Best result in Bad Mitterndorf: 2nd on January 10th, 2015

Karl Geiger
Second in the overall World Cup. Best result in Bad Mitterndorf: X. Karl Geiger has not competed there yet

Dawid Kubacki
Third in the overall World Cup. Best result in Bad Mitterndorf: 15th in the Ski Flying World Championships on January 16th, 2016

Ryoyu Kobayashi
Fourth in the overall World Cup. Best result in Bad Mitterndorf: 28th on January 13th, 2018

The now-retired Andreas Stjernen of Norway won the most recent competition on the Kulm on January 13th, 2018 ahead of his teammate Daniel Andre Tande and Simon Ammann of Switzerland. The second competition on January 14th had to be canceled due to the strong wind.