Wellinger wins first qualification of the winter
Nov 24, 2023·Ski Jumping
Andreas Wellinger (GER) has won the first qualification of the 2023/2024 ski jumping winter in Ruka (FIN). Wellinger came out on top ahead of Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden and Stephan Leyhe (GER) in good, wintry conditions to kick off the season. The German performed strongly.
Led by the day's winner Wellinger and Stephan Leyhe in third place, the six German starters all finished in the top 20, a dream start for the German team of national coach Stefan Horngacher.
Philipp Raimund and Karl Geiger in 6th and 7th place, Pius Paschke in 13th place and Martin Hamann in 18th place ensured a perfect start to the 2023/2024 season for the German team.
The Austrian team also put in a strong performance: Clemens Aigner in fourth place, Daniel Tschofenig in 8th place and Stefan Kraft, who had snow in the inrun track on his 21st place and subsequently had problems during the flight. This weekend in Ruka, Kraft is likely to finish much higher up in the field than he did today, and his form is really good for the start of the season.
The two athletes who caused a sensation during the FIS Grand Prix in the summer were also strong: The Swiss Gregor Deschwanden (2nd) and the Bulgarian Vladimir Zografski (10th) delivered top jumps in the qualification and confirmed the results of the summer.
The best Norwegian was Johann Andre Forfang in 5th place, Ryoyu Kobayashi was the best Japanese in 9th place.
In contrast, things did not go according to plan for the team from Poland. Piotr Zyla was the best of the five Poles in 29th place, not enough for the athletes from Poland who are used to success.
