Fourth World Cup win in a row for Halvor Egner Granerud
Dec 19, 2020·Ski Jumping
Halvor Egner Granerud remains the "Man of the Hour" among the world's best ski jumpers. The 24-year-old Norwegian claimed his fourth World Cup win in a row on Saturday in Engelberg. On the Titlis-hill in Engelberg, Granerud came in just ahead of Poland's Kamil Stoch and Anze Lanisek of Slovenia. Markus Eisenbichler was fourth.
Even if the competitions are very close recently, in the end, Norway's Halvor Egner Granerud always finishes on top. At least in the last four World Cups (1x Ruka, 2x Nizhny Tagil, 1x Engelberg) the man of the Asker Skiklubb was unbeatable. Granerud, who has never been on the podium in an individual World Cup before this season, sets the standards, he is the top favorite for Sunday's competition in Engelberg and he is the top favorite for the 4-Hills-Tournament, which starts on December 29th in Oberstdorf.
"It was definitely not easy to win here today, but my jumps are stable and everything works out really well for me. It was extremely close today and I knew that I had to give my all in the final in order to take the win. Now I'm super happy that it was enough", said the winner.
Kamil Stoch was also satisfied after his best result this season. "Even if there's still a lot to improve, my jumps were good technically today and I will definitely not complain", told the three-time Olympic champion.
Anze Lanisek made the podium for the third time in his career, after his third place in Ruka 2019 and the second place in Wisla. So far the Slovene is still lacking a win. "It was a very difficult week for me, I have a lot of problems with my back and from Tuesday on I couldn’t walk normally or get in the inrun position. So I'm extremely happy that I was still able to finish on the podium despite the problems", said Lanisek.
Markus Eisenbichler missed the podium today by only one point: "I'm having some problems on this hill, but in the second round it was pretty good already. Of course, the jumps were not perfect but they are stable and I'm satisfied with that. About the conditions: That's Engelberg, that's how I know it and actually, I also like it. Tomorrow I will attack again and then we'll see", said Eisenbichler, who has now scored 383 points this season and is second in the overall World Cup behind Granerud (500 points). Norway's Robert Johansson follows in third with 220 points.
Karl Geiger tested positive for Covid-19 during the week and is not competing this weekend.
It was a good day at the hill for Poland, not only because of Kamil Stoch's second place. Piotr Zyla (5th), Andrzej Stekala (7th), and Dawid Kubacki (9th) made their head coach Michal Dolezal an early Christmas present with their performances. The team is getting in top shape just in time for the 4-Hills-Tournament.
Pius Paschke was the second-best German in sixth and confirmed his strong shape. The 30-year-old just needs that little bit of luck to land on the podium, his shape is definitely good enough to achieve that.
The best Austrian was Daniel Huber in 12th. "The second jump was like I wanted it to be. In the first round, I saw that it's hard with the tailwind and I wanted to try something special, that's why I was too tense. The others are working hard as well and so I just need two good jumps to be among the best", he said. The Austrian team definitely misses Stefan Kraft and hopefully, last winter's overall World Cup winner will be able to compete in the 4-Hills-Tournament with the back problems he's struggling with right now.
The second competition in Engleberg starts on Sunday at 4 pm CET.
