Slovenia completes Lahti ski jumping clean-sweep with Super Team success

Slovenian duo Anze Lanisek and Lovro Kos won the final ski Jumping event at the Lahti Ski Games with a hard-earned victory in the Super Team discipline, which completed a clean-sweep of wins for their nation in Finland.

After Nika Prevc’s successes on the first and second days of ski jumping action in Finland, Lanisek won the men’s individual contest on Saturday, before he returned to attain a further title alongside Kos.

The pair trailed rivals Austria, represented by Manuel Fettner and Stefan Kraft, heading into the final round, but a coaching decision to move down a gate enabled Slovenia to unlock crucial bonus points.

Slovenia took the title with a combined 813.4pts from their six jumps, with Austria (809.3) second and Japanese duo Ren Nikaido / Ryoyu Kobayashi (802.5) claiming third.

“I’d say it was the nerves,” said Kos, when asked what had made the difference between his nation and runners-up Austria.

“The coach had nerves to go one gate down and that made the difference. If it (the jump by Lanisek) was 0.5m shorter there would have been no bonus points or win.

Kos added he hoped Slovenian athletes would be able to deliver “more big jumps” in the World Cup season finale in Planica, in their homeland, next weekend.

With leading Austrian duo Daniel Tschofenig and Jan Hoerl resting ahead of their final Crystal Globe showdown in Planica (SLO) next weekend, the German team currently struggling with form and Norway’s best athletes currently absent from the tour while investigations into suit manipulation at the World Championships continue, there was no overwhelming favorite.

Slovenia gave early signal of their intent with Lanisek’s 129.5m effort, combined with 125.5m from Lovro giving them a slender advantage over Austria, with Japan remaining in contention through Kobayashi’s 128m jump. 

Germany were already 21.9 points off the pace after the opening round, which saw China, Kazakstan and Turkiye eliminated.

Rather than extend their advantage of 4.9 points over Austria, it was they who would narrow the gap to 4.0 at the end of the second round, with Japan just 8.1 off the leaders, as Germany slipped out of podium contention in fourth.

Exiting the contest were Norway, Italy, Estonia and France, leaving an eight strong final round line-up of Slovenia, Austria, Japan, Germany, Poland, Finland, Switzerland and USA.

Fettner’s 127.5m jump, which scored 86.1 helped Austria edge ahead of Slovenia after Kos was awarded 78pts from his effort of 126m.

As with the individual contest 24 hours earlier the destination of the gold and silver medals would be settled by Lanisek and Kraft.

The Slovenian’s went first and a coaching request saw Lanisek move down to gate six, from the jury’s assigned gate seven. It meant bonus points were available if Lanisek could hit 123.5m.

He looked unhappy after landing but soon learned he had done just enough, with 124m, to achieve the required mark.

Lanisek and Kos were soon celebrating as Kraft, jumping back from gate seven, made 125m, seeking 128.5m to win.