COC-M: Michael Hayboeck wins first competition in Lake Placid
Oct 08, 2022·Ski Jumping
One of the top favorites took the win in the first competition of the long Continental Cup weekend on the newly renovated Olympic hills in Lake Placid (USA).
Austria's Michael Hayboeck, with 87.5 m in fifth after the first round, claimed his third win in the COC this summer with a 99.5 m jump in the final and a score of 257.0 points on the HS 100 normal hill. "Of course, I'm very satisfied. Even if I'm already 31 years old, this is the first time that I'm jumping in the US and I was very excited to come here because these are Olympic hills that have been modernized. I like this hill a lot, I think that hills with an old profile are special. My jumps are also good, so everything is fine", said the veteran.
In the competition on Friday evening local time, Hayboeck was followed by three ski jumpers from Poland. Half-time leader Tomasz Pilch secured his first podium finish since March 2021 with 94 m and 93 m and 249.3 points. His teammate Aleksander Zniszczol came in third with 90 m and 96.5 m and 245.2 points.
Only one point behind Zniszczol, Jan Habdas was fourth and narrowly missed the podium, but the 18-year-old could still achieve the best result of his career so far.
Behind the strong Poles, Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal was the best Norwegian in fifth, followed by his teammate Anders Haare in sixth. Places seven and eight went to the two Slovenens Maksim Bartolj and Zak Mogel. Maciej Kot of Poland and Austria's Marco Woergoetter completed the Top 10.
Michael Hayboeck took the lead in the overall ranking with now 460 points. The Norwegians Sondre Ringen (414 points) and Anders Fannemel (322 points) are second and third.
The second competition in Lake Placid starts on Saturday at 6:30 pm LOC (Sunday, 0:30 am CET).
