Kamil Stoch claims his first win this season
Feb 03, 2019·Ski Jumping
Three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch took his first win of the season in the final Ski Flying competition in Oberstdorf. In partly heavy snowfall, the Polish superstar showed jumps of 214.5 m and 227.5 m (413.2 points). Russia's Evgeniy Klimov (220.5 m and 223.5 m; 407.9 points) and Stoch's teammate Dawid Kubacki (207 m and 228.5 m; 405.4 points) finished second and third.
After Timi Zajc (SLO) and Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) won on Friday and Saturday, Kamil Stoch could celebrate his long-awaited first win this winter on Sunday. "I love this hill and I'm totally happy that I could take my first win of the winter here. The conditions were difficult, but I think that they were still good for Ski Flying. You had to be careful and then you could enjoy Ski Flying today", said Stoch.
Not only Kamil Stoch, but the entire Polish team showed an outstanding performance. Dawid Kubacki in third, Piotr Zyla in fourth and Jakub Wolny in sixth stirred the enthusiasm of the Polish fans.
Dawid Kubacki: "I know that I'm in a good shape and I will continue working hard in order to get even better every day. Yesterday my legs felt a bit tired after Friday's jumps, that's why it didn't go that well. It's great that so many Polish fans were here. We appreciate that a lot and I want to thank our fans."
Birthday boy Evgeniy Klimov, who turned 25 today, was very satisfied after the competition: "Of course I'm happy about this result on my birthday, I think that it's the best birthday I ever had. This is an important step towards the World Championships in Seefeld and I will do everything I can to be among the best in Seefeld as well."
Daniel Andre Tande was as happy about this fifth place, as Noriaki Kasai was about his eleventh place. Noriaki Kasai scored points on all three days in Oberstdorf (29th on Friday, 21st on Saturday, 11th on Sunday) and during this Ski Flying weekend in Oberstdorf, he proved once again that he is in incredible physical shape at age 46.
The two best ski flyers on Saturday were not among the very best this time. Ryoyu Kobayashi was in the lead after the first round, but due to a bad final jump, he finished only ninth overall. Markus Eisenbichler, who fought for the win on Saturday with Kobayashi, came in right behind the Japanese in tenth. "I just ran out of energy today", said Eisenbichler, who can still look back on a successful weekend. Eisenbichler is second in the Ski Flying World Cup, behind Kamil Stoch.
Tomas Vancura of the Czech Republic caused a moment of shock with a spectacular crash in the first round. Vancura lost control of his skis shortly after the take-off and crashed on the hill after about 80 meters. Fortunately, he didn't sustain any injuries.
Ryoyu Kobayashi remains in the lead in the overall World Cup with his total of 1380 points. He is followed by Kamil Stoch (929 points) and Austria's Stefan Kraft (917 points).
The World Cup continues next weekend in Lahti (FIN) with one team (Saturday) and one individual competition (Sunday).
