Dawid Kubacki takes it all in Wisla
Nov 05, 2022·Ski Jumping
Kubacki came to Wisla as the top favorite and confirmed that. Kubacki had already dominated the Summer Grand Prix last summer and won the qualifying round yesterday. Today Kubacki jumped 130.5 meters in the first round, which put him in the lead by three points over Granerud and 6.3 points over Kraft.
Granerud and Kraft showed excellent jumps in the final and put Kubacki under a lot of pressure, but Kubacki held his ground and landed at 132.5 meters and was able to celebrate his first victory at the World Cup opener.
"I think this day couldn't end better. It's something unique. I worked very hard for it. During the summer I proved to people that what I'm doing works," said the winner.
"There were elements that could have worked better. My jumps were good but not perfect. But my landing was much better and I'm very happy about that," said the Pole.
Granerud took second place with jumps of 130 and 133.5 meters. It was the best start to the season for the Norwegian, who won the Crystal Globe two years ago.
"There's no such thing as a perfect jump, but I'm very happy with my take-off. In the first run I had a little trouble with the skis and was off balance. But that's the only thing I would change. It's coming very rare that I'm happy with my jumps," Granerud said of his performance.
It could have been an even better competition for the Norwegian team, but Marius Lindvik fell at 136.5 meters after his great second jump. Fortunately, the Olympic champion remained unhurt and will be able to compete again on Sunday.
Stefan Kraft, who finished third, also had a brilliant start to the new season. In the past four seasons he hadn't claimed a podium finish at the opening event. The Austrian was not only happy about his result, but also praised the atmosphere in Wisla.
"We've missed that in recent years. It was a great show in the stands," he said.
The huge Polish crowd celebrated Kubacki's victory, but also enjoyed a strong performance from coach Thomas Thurnbichler's team. Piotr Zyla was fifth and Kamil Stoch completed the top 10. A total of six Poles scored World Cup points on Saturday.
The Austrian team also did remarkably well. In addition to Kraft, three jumpers made it into the top 10: Manuel Fettner in fourth, Daniel Tschofenig in sixth and Philipp Aschenwald in eighth.
2021/22 World Cup Overall Champion Ryoyu Kobayashi finished seventh. After the first round, the Japanese was only in 22nd place, but he was able to improve significantly with his jump to 128.5 meters. "I'm happy with my start to the season. And the second round was much better than the first," he said after the competition.
It wasn't a dream start to the season for Germany. The best athlete in Stefan Horngacher's team was Pius Paschke, who finished 12th, one place ahead of Markus Eisenbichler. Karl Geiger, second in the overall World Cup 2021/22, did not even qualify for the final round.
"It's hard to say what it was. I'm not sure yet. The jumps were all a bit difficult for me. I don't jump really well. Sometimes it's not that easy," explained Geiger.
The 29-year-old jumped 115 meters and took 34th place - the worst placing in the opening competition of his entire career.
The second competition in Wisla will be held on Sunday. The qualifying round starts at 14.30 and the first round at 16.00.
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