Lanisek and Kubacki are the winners on a difficult day
Oct 05, 2019·Ski Jumping
The Ski Jumping Grand Prix 2019 ended on Saturday with a difficult one-round competition in Klingenthal (GER). At first, it seemed as if this summer's final competition could not take place at all due to the strong wind gusts in the Vogtland-Arena, but then, after various delays, it was possible to start the competition round.
In the end, Anze Lanisek was the happy winner. The Slovene stood on top of the podium for the first time since his two wins in Chaikovsky two years ago with a jump of 139.5 m and 137.6 points. Therefore the 23-year-old was more than satisfied after a long day at the hill: "It was really difficult today due to the changing winds. The start was delayed three times we had to be ready every time they called us up to the jump. It was difficult to remain focused and you also needed some luck with the wind. It is an unexpected victory for me, I was struggling the entire summer. In Hinzenbach and Klingenthal I was finally able to make some good jumps."
The outstanding jump of the day was posted by Norway's Marius Lindvik, who improved the summer hill record, previously held by Stephan Leyhe, by 2.5 m with his 148 m today. With this performance, Lindvik could not only celebrate the record but also his first podium in the Grand Prix, only one point behind the winner. "I didn't expect to jump that far. I knew the conditions were changing but when I got the green light I had to go for it. The competition was a bit difficult because of the wind and the delays but I think I handled it pretty well", said the 21-year-old.
Like last weekend in Hinzenbach, Poland's Piotr Zyla came in third again. He jumped on 135 m today and scored 135.6 points. "I'm happy because my jump was quite good and also about the third place. It was a good day for me", said Piotr Zyla.
And it was also a good day for his teammate Dawid Kubacki, despite the bad weather. The Pole finished fifth today, just behind Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan, and claimed the overall win of the FIS Grand Prix 2019. A success that he didn't expect at all. "I was surprised that I was among the best in the overall ranking after HInzenbach because I didn't take part in a lot of competitions. Here in Klingenthal I just wanted to jump well, I wasn't focused on the results. This strategy worked really well for me. I'm really happy that I could win the overall title, but I have to focus on the work that I still have to do before the winter", said Kubacki, who also won the overall title 2017.
Before today's competition, Japan's Yukiya Sato was in the lead ahead of Kubacki. But he came in only 11th in Klingenthal and so he ended up second in the FIS Grand Prix 2019. With a total of 294 points, he came in just behind Dawid Kubacki (305 points). Timi Zajc of Slovenia defended his third place overall (268 points) with finishing eighth in today's final event.
Second-best Norwegian in Klingenthal was Robert Johansson in sixth, Jakub Wolny of Poland confirmed his strong performance in yesterday's qualification with the seventh place today.
Behind Japanese Taku Takeuchi (9th), Karl Geiger was the best German in this home competition in tenth, Gregor Schlierenzauer was the best Austrian in 20th.
The ski jumpers now enter the final phase of preparation for the upcoming World Cup season, which starts on November 23rd and 24th with two competitions in Wisla (POL).
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