Stefan Kraft takes the win in Lillehammer
Mar 03, 2022·Ski Jumping
Stefan Kraft won the Ski Jumping World Cup in Lillehammer (NOR) on Thursday. Kraft came in ahead of World Cup leader Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan and Karl Geiger of Germany on the HS 140 hill.
"My first jump today was very stable, I had the feeling that it could work well always and on every hill. I then took more risk in the second round, it was close to the limit, but it still worked well. You have to take some risk if you want to win. I'm in great shape right now and I have a lot of self-confidence, but now we'll have to see how everyone jumps in Oslo. We will know more after the first day there. Hopefully I can jump as well on the Holmenkollen as I did here in Lillehammer", said Kraft, who also took the lead in the overall ranking of the RAW AIR Tour from Norway's Johann Andre Forfang. Kraft leads with 419.7 points ahead of World Cup leader Ryoyu Kobayashi (403.3 points) and Karl Geiger (399.9 points). It was the 24th World Cup win for Kraft, the third this season.
Ryoyu Kobayashi was able to extend his lead in the overall World Cup to 63 points over Karl Geiger. "I'm satisfied with the second place today because I was jumping better than yesterday. It was a nice and fair competition, the wind was really calm. The lead in the overall World Cup is not big enough yet, I have to keep on fighting. I will also try my best to win the RAW AIR, but it will be difficult", the 25-year-old said. Kobayashi leads the World Cup with a total of 1402 points, Karl Geiger (1339 points) and Halvor Egner Granerud (1140 points) follow in second and third.
Karl Geiger said after his third place: "I was jumping a lot better today and I'm extremely happy that I could finish on the podium. It was a fun competition. The energy level is not that high anymore towards the end of the season, but it's the same for everyone. I'm feeling quite good and so we'll see what the next days will bring."
With Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR), Jan Hoerl (AUT), Markus Eisenbichler (GER), Cene Prevc (SLO), and Piotr Zyla (POL) on the places four to eight, jumpers representing six nations finished in the Top 8.
Germany remains in the lead of the Nations Cup with 4396 points, but Austria (4567 points) is now only 28 points behind.
The World Cup continues already tomorrow on the Holmenkollen in Oslo (a 2.5 hour drive south of Lillehammer) with a mixed team competition. Two indivdiual competition will then follow on Saturday and Sunday, both competitions and the two qualification also count for the overall ranking of the RAW AIR.
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