Wellinger wins wind-impacted Ruka World Cup

Two-time Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger (GER) claimed his first World Cup victory of the 2024/25 season after a wind-hit event in Ruka, Finland, saw the competition reduced to one round.

The German, who last won a World Cup outside of his homeland in February 2023, achieved a jump which measured 146.5m and scored 143.4 points, in the first round.

Typically, he and the other top-30 ranked athletes would then have had their second-round totals added to their initial scores to discover their overall placements.

15 ski jumpers were able to leap from the HS142 hill for a second time, however, after several breaks in competition and conditions continued to deteriorate, officials ruled that the World Cup action should cease.

That meant the results from the first round would become the finalised standings, handing victory to Wellinger (GER).

Stefan Kraft (AUT) continued his return to form by following up third on Saturday with second on Sunday, while Karl Geiger (GER) placed third.

Despite finishing seventh, Pius Paschke (GER), who won Saturday’s World Cup, retains the overall World Cup lead with 316 points.

Kraft (AUT) climbs into second on 240 points, with Jan Hoerl (AUT) slipping to third, with a total of 236 points, following a challenging day which saw the Lillehammer World Cup winner finish 20^th.

Ruka Men’s World Cup – 1 Dec – How The Event Played Out 

59 athletes lined up in qualifying, with 50 of those making it through to the first round.

Weather conditions had been relatively calm for the qualifying round, which saw Saturday’s World Cup winner Pius Paschke (GER) continue his reign in Ruka by topping the standings.

However, once the first round ‘proper’ of the World Cup began the wind speed picked up significantly, which put a potential second round under some threat.

The initial priority therefore was to ensure all 50 of the qualifiers for the first round made it down, safely, before the jury made a decision about potential second jumps for the top 30.

Among those who would have been expected to progress, but were heavily impacted by the changeable conditions, were Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR), Timi Zajc (SLO) and Tate Frantz (USA), who all failed to progress to the second round.

Four-time Olympic champion Simon Ammann (SUI) famously shared victory with Noriaki Kasai (JPN) on this hill a decade ago, but his last World Cup podium finish came back in 2018.

The 43-year-old, who made his World Cup debut back in 1997, shrugged after a modest jump of 115.5m, which attained 86.5 points, but it was enough for 30^th place.

Nine-time World championship medallist Karl Geiger (GER) took advantage of a brief moment of calm to produce a jump of 136.5, which scored 134.3 and temporarily put him into the lead.

The German, who has three Olympic team medals among his career honours, would ultimately end the first round ranked in third, with team-mate Andreas Wellinger (GER) topping the standings.

He travelled the furthest distances from the HS142 hill – 146.5m – and scored 143.4.

2023/24 crystal globe winner Stefan Kraft (AUT), who claimed his first World Cup podium finish of the season on Saturday with third, was well-placed for further success after achieving a score which was just 5.4 points short of Wellinger’s total. 

Jan Hoerl (AUT), who won the second World Cup in Lillehammer last week, entered Sunday’s competition second in the overall standings, but was far from his best and ranked 20^th after the opening round.

World Cup leader Pius Paschke (GER), who had topped the standings in qualifying, placed seventh, 17.4 points short of his team-mate Wellinger. 

It suggested that after two previous victories for Paschke and Hoerl’s sole success, there would likely be a new athlete on top of the podium for the fourth individual men’s World Cup event of the 2024/25 season. 

And so it would prove.

Wind-enforced delays became more frequent during the second round, with Austrian duo Manuel Fettner (AUT) and Maximilian Ortner (AUT) producing the best combined scores among the first 15 ski jumpers who did return to the hill.

However, after another postponement judges ruled that the event should stop, as conditions were predicted to further worsen throughout the remainder of the evening in Ruka.

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.