Superb Tschofenig soars to career-first World Cup win

Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) claimed his career-first individual World Cup victory as he landed on top of the podium in Wisla, Poland, on Saturday. It’s Tschofenig’s third podium finish of the season after second and third places at the World Cup opener in Lillehammer (NOR) two weeks ago.

The 22-year-old Austrian became the first World Cup winner born in the 21st century.

The 2022 junior world champion topped the qualification rankings on Friday and continued his fine form a day later. The Austrian led by 1.1 points after the opening round (138.2 points) before securing the title with an impressive second jump (138.6) for a combined score of 276.8 points.

“It’s great”, Tschofenig said afterward. “The jumps were great and honestly, I couldn’t wish for anything more than that. The competition out there is strong, but I’m very happy with how it went. Up until now, it’s a perfect weekend for me”, the Austrian said.

“It started yesterday with the win in qualifications, which gave me the confidence. And today turned out to be another great day. We will see what happens tomorrow, but I can’t be more happy than I already am”, Tschofenig added.

Deschwanden moves into second

Gregor Deschwanden (SUI) moved up from fourth place in the opening round to finish second behind Tschofenig.

A strong performance in the final round, which was rewarded with the highest score of the day (140.3) helped him to land on the podium with a total of 275.4 points: 1.4 behind Tschofenig. “I did a really good job today, two really good jumps”, Deschwanden said. “The landings, especially in the second round, were really good. I’m up there. I already smelled a bit of the victory today. I have to continue working, but for now I am happy.”

Ahead of the 2024/25 season, Deschwanden set new goals as he visualized what his jumps should look like during winter. Slowly but surely, that seems to work out for the Swiss ski jumper. “Somehow just before (the season opener) in Lillehammer it started to happen, it started to work out. Now I can jump much more relaxed than last year and that’s the greatest thing in ski jumping.”

World Cup leader Pius Paschke (GER) extended his advantage in the race for the Crystal Globe after finishing third, his fourth World Cup podium finish of the season. The German sat in second after the first jump (137.1), but saw Deschwanden move past him in the final round. Paschke posted a combined score of 273.9 points.

With that, he finished ahead of Jan Hoerl (AUT), who moved up from seventh after the first round to fourth in the overall classification with a total score of 271.3 points.

2023/24 Crystal Globe winner Stefan Kraft (AUT) ended up in seventh (265.5 points). A disappointing first jump meant he had to come back from a ten-point deficit. The Austrian did what he could, but was not able to come close to the podium in Wisla.

Andreas Wellinger (GER), who was victorious on the second day of competition in Ruka, Finland, last week, could not live up to the expectations and ended up 22nd, just ahead of 23nd place finisher Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), who won the Wisla World Cup in January 2024.

FIS SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP – WISLA (POL) SCHEDULE

06.12.2024
16:00 – Training
18:00 – Start Qualification - QUA WC Men LH
07.12.2024
14:00 – Start Trial Round - WC Men’s LH
15:05 – Competition Start - WC Men’s LH
08.12.2024
13:45 – Start Qualification - QUA WC Men LH
15:15 – Competition Start - WC Men’s LH

All times listed are CET (Central European Time) and are subject to change.