Ski Jumping 2016 - 2017 Discussion Thread

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Too strong wind - No competition in Lillehammer

 

The second individual competition of the RAW AIR Tournament in Lillehammer could not take place on Tuesday evening due ot the strong wind.

 

In the afternoon the trial round had already been canceled, but later the wind speed decreased and so the competition was started half an hour later than originally planned. But after 26 of the 50 athletes and various delays due to the weather conditions the jury had to decide to cancel the event on the Lysgaardsbakken.

 

"The round already had a bumpy start and some interruptions were necessary in order to allow the 25 athletes to start. We were hoping that the conditions will get calmer during the course of the day, but this didn't happen due to a strong upper air flow which made it impossible to continue with the competition. The gusts were uncontrollable", FIS Race Director Walter Hofer explained the decision.

 

If and when the competition will be rescheduled during this RAW AIR has not been decided yet. "We will now discuss this with the organizers. For example, we might have the change to carry out the competition on one of the training days. But we are quite relaxed regarding this matter", said Walter Hofer.

 

The athletes now move on to Trondheim, where the official training and the qualification are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. 

 

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Additional competition in Vikersund

 

The second individual competition of the RAW AIR Tour, which could not take place on Tuesday in Lillehammer due to the strong win, will now take place on Friday on the Ski Flying hill in Vikersund.

 

This competition will be decided after only one round and all athletes will be allowed to participate. This means there will be no qualification for this competition.

 

The qualification for Sunday's individual competition will be held on Saturday instead of the trial round right before the team competition.

So there will be a total of 6 rounds (individual competition 1 round, team competition, qualification, individual competition) on the HS 225 in Vikersund that could for the overall ranking of the RAW AIR.

 

New schedule Vikersund:

 

Friday:
03:00 pm: Official Training
04:30 pm: Competition (1 round, all athletes)

 

Saturday:
02:15 pm: Qualification for Sunday's competition
04:15 pm: Team Competition

 

Sunday:
01:00 pm: Trial Round
02:15 pm: Individual Competition

 

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Stefan Kraft on top again

 

Stefan Kraft of Austria won a great World Cup competition in Trondheim (NOR) on Thursday evening. Under perfect weather conditions, Kraft had jumps of 138 m and 142.5 m (302.0 points) and finished ahead of Norway's Andreas Stjernen (138.5 m and 138 m; 294.3 points) and Andreas Wellinger of Germany. This was the tenth World Cup win for Stefan Kraft, the sixth this season. With this success the 24-year-old extended his lead in the overall World Cup and took back the lead in the Raw Air Tournament.

 

"Today I wanted to make up for the bad result yesterday so I risked everything, already in the trial round. Which is something I normally don't do. Everything went well for me today, It was a great competition. The conditions were fantastic, it was very fair and a lot of fun. Hopefully the conditions will be the same in Vikersund. We will see great flights there and I hope I can fly over the hill size a couple of times", Stefan Kraft said after the competition.

 

With Norway's Andreas Stjernen, a second top ski flyer could get himself in a good position before the upcoming competitions in Vikersund. Stjernen equalled his best World Cup result today, achieved in a Ski Flying event in Oberstdorf 2013: "I'm really happy. It's great to show two good jumps in a competition, especially here on my home hill. It's always difficult to be on the podium, but the level today was extremely high. Finally we had a nice competition during this Raw Air with stable conditions. It was an amazing competition. I haven't thought about Vikersund that much, but the heart is starting to beat faster now. I think it will be fun and hopefully the weather will be as good there as it was here today."

 

Andreas Wellinger also proved his currently great shape. The third place today was his ninth podium finish in the last 10 competitions. "I'm very satisfied, especially with the second jump. It's not easy here on this hill to a perfect take-off, I couldn't do it that well in the first round. It's extremely cool that I could jump that far in the second round and that I made it to the podium. I hope we will have some nice flights in Vikersund. Everything can change really fast, as we saw here yesterday and today. Hopefully Stefan and I will continue to jump on such a high level. Then it will be very exciting", said Wellinger.

 

Only 0.9 points behind Wellinger, Markus Eisenbichler came in fourth and was angry about his lost chance to achieve even more: "I'm not totally satisfied with this competition, I can't be satisfied with such landings because I lose imporant points and so I can't be on the podium. I'm very satisfied with the jumps, but the landings are part of the result too."

 

Poland's Kamil Stoch confirmed yesterday's win with a strong fifth place, followed by Norway's Johann Andre Forfang. Peter Prevc and Richard Freitag, seventh and eighth today, are definitely among the favorites for the Ski Flying competitions in Vikersund on the next three days. Roman Koudelka and Daniel Andre Tande completed the Top 10.

 

The fight for the overall title of the RAW AIR remains extremely interesting. Stefan Kraft now leads with 1237.1 points ahead of Andreas Wellinger (1231.8 points), Markus Eisenbichler (1206.2 points) and Andreas Stjernen (1200.8 points). Nothing is decided yet with 6 jumps left on the three days in Vikersund.

 

The first event in Vikersund will already take place on Friday at 4:15 pm CET with all competitors, there will be no qualification and only one competition round.

 

Stefan Kraft is also in the lead in the overall World Cup with 1420 points. He is followed by Kamil Stoch (1334 points) and Daniel Andre Tande of Norway (1181 points). Andreas Wellinger is fourth with 988 points

 

 

Full Results Here

 

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The HS 225 competition today,Friday, 17.03.2017, 16:15 CET is cancelled due to difficult weather conditions in Vikersund (NOR).

 

Below is the updated programme:

 

Friday, 17.03.2017
18:00 CET: One Trial Round (insted of 15:00 CET)
19:00 CET: HS 225 Qualification, for Sunday competition (instead of Sat 18.03., 14:15 CET)

 

Saturday, 18.03.2017
15:00 CET: Trial Round
16:15 CET: HS 225 Team Competition (as scheduled)

 

The Sunday programme is as scheduled.

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Robert Johansson just performed a legendary fly 252 meters! New World Record ! oh yeah baby, this is a sport

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and another one. Stefan Kraft 253.5 m wow just wow

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Norway takes the home win, Kraft the world record

 

Incredible team competition as part of the RAW AIR Tournament in Vikersund (NOR). On the world's largest Ski Flying hill local hero Robert Johansson was the first to set a new world record with 252 m (the old record was set by Norway's Anders Fannemel in 2015). Only a few minutes later there was yet another record jump: Austria's Stefan Kraft landed at outstanding 253.5 m and could hardly avoid a fall. The win in the team event went to Norway.

 

At first it didn't seem as if it would become such a great day for Ski Flying due to the difficult wind conditions. It took almost 40 minutes for the first 12 athletes to jump in the first round, then the jury had to decide to cancel it and start again later. What followed was an unbelievable spectacle on the HS 225 Vikersundbakken in Vikersund!

 

With the two world records, many flights over 240 m and personal bests the triumph of the Norwegian team, the first this winter, almost became a side note. Daniel Andre Tande, Robert Johansson, Johann Andre Forfang and Andreas Stjernen took the win for Norway with 1572.6 points. The strong Polish team, with Piotr Zyla, Dawid Kubacki, Maciej Kot and Kamil Stoch finished second with 1538.6 points. The third place went to Austria (Michael Hayboeck, Manuel Fettner, Gregor Schlierenzauer and Stefan Kraft) with 1465.4 points.

 

"Everything has to be perfect for a new world record and everything was perfect today, the conditions and my jump", said the new world record holder. "It was an incredible feeling, pure adrenalin. As a team we are happy about the third place", added Kraft.

 

Robert Johansson, who held the world record for a few minutes today, was also overwhelmed by what happened on the monster hill in Vikersund. "After my jump of 252 m I was full of emotions and adrenalin. I knew that it would go near the world record when I was so high over the knoll. Then I just tried to go as far as possible and stand it. For me it was the first time that I stood on top of the podium with the team and it's something very special. It was a great day for us. We all showed very good jumps", said Robert Johansson.

 

Piotr Zyla explained for the second-placed Polish team: "It was a really good day for me. The trial round was already very good and in the first round I had a great jump on a new personal best. Everyone on our team was jumping well and we are very satisfied with the second place. The conditions were good today, it was nice head wind. Ski Flying is the perfect ending for the RAW AIR."

 

Slovenia came in fourth with 1424.0 points. The team around Peter and Domen Prevc could have made it to the podium, if Anze Lanisek's first jump wouldn't have been over after only 120 m. The Prevc brothers and Jurij Tepes were as strong as usual in Ski Flying.

 

The evening in Norway ended with a disappointment for the German team. With 1305.2 points the athletes of Werner Schuster finished fifth. Karl Geiger, Richard Freitag, Markus Eisenbichler and Andreas Wellinger lost their chance to fight for a top result today when Karl Geiger landed already at 132 m in the first round.

 

Wellinger still leads RAW AIR overall

Once again Andreas Wellinger was the outstanding athlete of the German team. He showed a completely convincing performance with 245 m and 242.5 m and defend his overall lead in the RAW AIR. Before the final event on Sunday in Vikersund, Wellinger leads with 1879.5 points, followed by Stefan Kraft (1873.3 points) and Kamil Stoch of Poland (1806.0 points).

 

Japan, the Czech Republic and Switzerland came in on the places six, seven and eight in today's team competition.

 

The final competition on Sunday will definitely be extremely exciting. The event on the Vikersundbakken starts at 2:15 pm CET.

 

 

Full Results Here

 

 

Stefan Kraft 253.5m

New World Record

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Kamil Stoch and Stefan Kraft celebrate wins in Vikersund

 

Kamil Stoch of Poland won Sunday's Ski Flying event on the "Monsterbakken" in Vikersund. In an extremely exciting competition, Stoch had jumps of 238.5 m and 237 m (466.6 points) and took the win ahead of Noriaki Kasai of Japan (239.5 m and 241.5 m; 448.0 points) and Austria's Michael Hayboeck (241.5 m and 222.5 m; 430.4 points). This was the 22nd win in the World Cup for Stoch, the second in Ski Flying. It was also a dramatic final of the battle for the RAW AIR overall title. At the end Stefan Kraft of Austria could take home the first ever RAW AIR trophy. US American Kevin Bickner fell, but didn't suffer any serious injuries.

 

"This was a great success for me today. Ski Flying is always difficult, because the speed is much higher and small mistakes cost you more than in Ski Jumping. When the conditions are changing like today it's even more difficult for us. I really liked this RAW AIR Tournament, the organization was really good, I can't complain about anything. Every competition was on the highest level and for me it was an honor to take part in this Tournament. Next year I'll try to be even better prepared. I'm sorry that Andreas didn't win, he was the most consistent athlete and made only one mistake. And that was today, when it was most important", Stoch said after his win.

 

Noriaki Kasai is one of a kind

One athlete wasn't impressed at all by the difficult conditions on the HS 225 Vikersundbakken, that were challenging for many athletes. Veteran Noriaki Kasai had to calm flights of 239.5 m and 241.5 m. The 44-year-old finished second and achieved his 62nd podium finish. "This is fantastic, incredible. The conditions were difficult today and I had some luck. Now I'm looking forward to the weekend in Planica and I want to win there. Then winning a gold medal in PyeongChang is my next big goal, I haven't won Olympic gold yet", Kasai said about his next goals after today's competition.

 

Hayboeck best Austrian 

"It was a great day for me. The last days weren't that easy, especially with the 26th place in Trondheim. Ski Flying is something different and I got better and better with every jump and I'm really happy that I could achieve my first podium in Ski Flying today. The conditions were great for Ski Flying, head wind is always good. Of course it was also changing a bit, but you have to focus on yourself and it was not dangerous at any time. The ten days of the RAW AIR were very exciting, it was something new. I hope that we will have this Tournament again next year", explained Hayboeck. For the first time during this RaW AIR Tournament, Stefan Kraft was not the best Austrian in a competition.

 

Shock for Kevin Bickner

US American Kevin Bickner was the "Man of the Day" in Vikersund. At first he had great flights in the trial round (233.5 m) and in the first round (244.5 m), both were new personal bests and US records and enthused the fans. In the final Bickner soared to 234.5 m again, but crashed after the landing. He was treated in the outrun and then taken to the ambulance. But the good news came later this evening when he went to dinner together with his teammates. "Everything is okay, nothing happened, only a few bruises", Bickner said and smiled.

 

Andreas Wellinger's RAW AIR dream ended on the final stretch

Actually everything was on track for Andreas Wellinger, he was leading after the first round with a great jump of 242 m, then Stefan Kraft, with whom Wellinger was fighting for this overall title for the last ten days, made a mistake in the final and landed already after 215 m. Wellinger just needed a solid jump on the huge Vikersundbakken. Then it got dramatic: Wellinger had difficult conditions and not his best jump, he landed at 166 m and was devastated. He finished 18th and third in the overall RAW AIR ranking. This overall win would have been his biggest individual title so far - and it was close. Wellinger was deeply disappointed. The coaches and other team members comforted him right away, but still it's a huge disappointment. 

 

With today's win Kamil Stoch took the second place in the RAW AIR. First winner of this new Tournament was Austria's Stefan Kraft, who was awarded the RAW AIR trophy by Norwegian prime minister Erna Stolberg and won a prize money of 60 000,- Euro. "I took too much risk in my second jump and I really had to fight for every meter. I tried everything to fly over 200 m and then Andreas also had some problems and not the best conditions. It showed that everything can happen in Ski Flying and that you have to remain focused until the last jump. Now I'm really happy that I'm the first overall winner. The RAW AIR was well organized, the team took good care about us and so we could show lots of great jumps. Everything was good, but now we are happy that it's over. It was a great experience", said Kraft.

 

Local hero Johann Andre Forfang had the longest jump of the day with 245.5 m in the second round and was the best Norwegian in fourth. He closely missed the podium today and came in less than two points behind Michael Hayboeck. Also in the overall ranking of the RAW AIR the best Norwegian, Andreas Stjernen (ninth on Sunday) was fourth.

 

Only a few days before the World Cup final in front of their home crowd in Planica, the Slovenes proved that they always have to be reckoned with on the world's largest hills. Peter Prevc, Jurij Tepes and Domen Prevc finished on the places six to eight today and seem to be very well prepared for the upcoming tasks.

 

Behind Kevin Bickner, who achieved his best World Cup result in 15th despite the fall, Simon Ammann was 16th and presented himself in a really good shape as well with jumps of 239.5 m and 230 m. Young Italian Alex Insam was 25th and scored his first World Cup points.

 

RAW AIR has a future

The premiere of the RAW AIR Tournament got very positive feedback by athletes, coaches and officials. This new Tour has a big future.

The Ski Jumping World Cup ends next weekend with the final events in Planica (SLO). Three Ski Flying competitions (2 individual, 1 team) will be held there. Poland's Kamil Stoch and Austria's Stefan Kraft will be fighting for the overall title there. Currently Kraft has a lead of 31 points over Stoch.

 

 

Full Results Here

 

[VolleyRuller96 264]

it definitely will be interesting to watch the intense "final battle" between Kraft and Stoch

[mihamiha 124]

first practice in planica

 

first practice           distance  points
 1. A. WELLINGER  NEM    228,5    162,2
 2. A. SEMENIČ    SLO    238,0    157,4
 3. M. HAYBÖCK    AVT    221,5    153,9
 4. S. KRAFT      AVT    209,0    148,4
 5. M. EISENBICH. NEM    211,5    145,8
 6. T. BARTOL     SLO    219,0    143,3
 7. P. PREVC      SLO    210,0    143,0
 8. K. STOCH      POL    202,5    135,4

second practice         distance   points
 1. A. WELLINGER  NEM    240,5    178,6
 2. S. KRAFT      AVT    234,5    171,4
 3. K. STOCH      POL    231,5    166,0
 4. M. HAYBÖCK    AVT    237,0    164,7
 5. M. EISENBICH. NEM    234,5    154,1
 6. P. PREVC      SLO    225,5    153,7
 7. A. SEMENIČ    SLO    229,5    152,1
 8. A. STJERNEN   NOR    224,5    149,4
 9. J. TEPEŠ      SLO    223,5    148,2