Anze Lanisek claims maiden World Cup win
Nov 29, 2021·Ski Jumping
Slovenia's Anze Lanisek claimed his first-ever World Cup win in a dramatic competition in Ruka (FIN) on Sunday. In a true nail-biter in temperatures of about -20°C, the 25-year-old came in narrowly ahead of Germany's Karl Geiger and Markus Eisenbichler.
Kobayashi out, Granerud out! The second day of competition at the Ski Jumping World Cup in Ruka started as turbulent as it can be.
First, Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), the winner of yesterday's competition, tested positive for Covid-19, which means he now has to quarantine for ten days, then Norway's Halvor Egner Granerud, another top contender this winter, jumped only on 106 m in the qualification and failed to make the cut for the competition for the second time this weekend.
It then was an extremely exciting competition, in which Anze Lanisek of Slovenia was finally able to secure his first win after finishing second five times already. And this win was definitely well-deserved. "It was very tough today, especially in the second round, the first round was really nice. I had to wait a very long time before my second jump and my hands got very cold. But I remained calm and focused on my jumps. It's a great day for me, it feels amazing to win and it means a lot to me, I had to wait for it for a long time", Lanisek said after his success.
Karl Geiger and Markus Eisenbichler made it a very successful weekend for the German team with finishing second and third. The two Bavarians were absolutely satisfied today: "I'm very satisfied with today's competition. My second jump was not perfect, but I'm just satisfied with my performances right now. I'm really happy that I could finish on the podium again. I will continue working and I'm already looking forward to competing in Wisla", said Eisenbichler, who is now third in the overall World Cup after his second podium finish in a row. Karl Geiger (305 points) defended the overall lead ahead of today's winner Lanisek (252 points).
Norway's Marius Lindvik came in fourth in today's competition, the two Prevc brothers Cene and Peter, completed the great team result for Slovenia in fifth and sixth. Stefan Kraft (AUT) could move up 19 places in the final round and was seventh in the end, the outstanding team result for Germany was completed by Stephan Leyhe and Andreas Wellinger in ninth and tenth.
The World Cup continues next weekend in Wisla (POL).
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