Impressive Austrians claim Men’s World Cup team victory in Zakopane

An outstanding performance saw favorites Austria claim victory in the Men’s Team World Cup event in Zakopane, Poland, on Saturday.

The Austrian quartet of Daniel Tschofenig, Jan Hoerl, Stefan Kraft and Maximilian Ortner achieved a combined total of 1170.4 points from their eight jumps across two rounds.

It saw them finish 40.8 points clear of Slovenia, the team that secured their first World Cup podium of the season. Norway completed the podium in third place.

Austrians deliver when it matters

“Of course, we were the favorites, and we knew that”, Austria's Stefan Kraft said afterward. “But you have to deliver. You have to make your best jumps and stay focused. A team competition always has different rules and you have to make eight really good and stable jumps (as a team).”

“In the first round we had Maximilian with a spectacular jump and in the second round, Jan started perfectly. We knew we could do our job and I’m proud of the team.”

It was a special day for Kraft’s teammate Ortner, who secured the first World Cup podium of his career. "I am very satisfied with the result", Ortner said. "I am very happy about my first win in the team competition. I love this hill, because last year in the Continental Cup I won the overall ranking here."

Jan Hoerl got the Austrians off to a flying start in the first round with a strong and far (137.0m) jump which saw him score 150.9 points. Hoerl had clearly set the standard for his teammates, who followed suit.

The Austrians had a 19.8 point lead over Norway and a 32.5 point lead over Germany after round one. The Austrians further extended the lead in the second and final round, especially after strong jumps from Hoerl (157.1) and Ortner (146.7).

Slovenia sat in fourth after the first round.

Lanisek enjoys the pressure

It eventually all came down to the final round and the final jump for Slovenia and Norway, and Slovenia's Anze Lanisek was right in the middle of it.

Lanisek produced the best jump of the day (159.0 points) when it mattered most to help his team move ahead of Norway.

"It was a massive one (the second jump)”, Lanisek said. I was just enjoying it, like I should do every jump. It was perfect. I had a really good take off, transition… it was just really perfect. I was enjoying it a lot afterward”, he added with a smile.

“This was the first competition where the whole team did a really good job”, Lanisek said. “It was just awesome. Actually, I’m really surprised about the (gap of) 40 points (with Austria). I thought it would much more."

Germany in fourth

The Germans, led by Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger, failed to make it onto the podium in the team event.

Wellinger and teammates Pius Paschke, Karl Geiger and Philipp Raimund finished fourth with a combined total of 1110.0 points. “We win and we lose together. Pius (Paschke) is struggling at the moment”, Geiger said afterward.

The Germans sat in third after the first round, but were not able to maintain a place on the podium.

Coming up…

The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Zakopane continues on Sunday 19 January with the individual World Cup.

World Cup leader Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) topped the individual qualification rankings on Friday with a total of 153.5 points. He finished ahead of Johann Andre Forfang of Norway (151.7 points) and Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek (150.0).

While the men compete in Poland, the women jump in Sapporo (JPN) this weekend. Alexandria Loutitt (CAN) soared to her first World Cup win of the season with a dominant display on Saturday. The women have another individual event coming up on Sunday.