Stefan Kraft crowns his winter
Mar 05, 2021·Ski Jumping
Stefan Kraft is the new World Champion on the large hill. In heavy snowfall, the Austrian, who has already won this title 2017 in Lahti (FIN), finished ahead of Norway's Robert Johansson and local hero Karl Geiger.
Stefan Kraft is back. After his Covid-19 infection and back problems at the beginning of the season, last winter's overall World Cup champion had an impressive comeback today. Kraft scored 276.5 points with his jumps of 132.5 m and 134 m and came in 4.4 points ahead of Robert Johansson (129.5 m and 135.5 m; 272.1 points).
"It's incredible, that this happened here today. I have to thank so many people that I can stand here like this and that I'm doing so well physically. The weather was the same when I took my first World Cup win here in Oberstdorf. I knew what to do, you can't hold back. There was so much energy. Given everything that happened before, this medal is so fantastic, it was so far away for me in summer", explained an overwhelmed Stefan Kraft. It is the third individual World Championship title for Kraft after winning gold twice in Lahti 2017.
For Robert Johansson, this second place earned him the first individual medal at World Championships. The Norwegian has won silver in the mixed team competition in Oberstdorf.
With 267.4 points, the third place went to Karl Geiger, for whom this was already the third medal in Oberstdorf after silver on the normal hill and gold with the mixed team. "I'm still angry about my first jump, but the second one was really okay. You never know how far you can move up from sixth in the first round, that's why I'm really happy now", Geiger said on German TV.
World Champion Piotr Zyla was fourth, Anze Lanisek of Slovenia came in sixth.
Defending champion Markus Eisenbichler provided a moment of shock in the second round. After a mistake in the first round, he was only 16th at halftime, in the final, he then jumped on 134 m, but he risked too much at the landing and had a spectacular fall. Fortunately, Eisenbichler didn't suffer any injuries.
The final competition of the WSC will be the team event on the large hill. The teams of Austria, Norway, Poland, Germany, and Slovenia will most likely fight for the medals in this exciting event. It will start on Saturday at 5 pm CET.
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