The Ski Flying World Championships are scheduled to start today at the Kulm ski jumping hill in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria. They have… wind permitting. It was very windy in Bad Mitterndorf yesterday and if the wind does not allow the qualifying to take place today, tomorrow’s competition will be held without them. The team for the world championship included five of our representatives: Piotr Żyła, Dawid Kubacki, Kamil Stoch, Aleksander Zniszczoł and Paweł Wąsek. The title will be defended by Norwegian Marius Lindvik, who won in Vikersund two years ago.
Dawid Kubacki /Grzegorz Momot /PAP
This assumes that in the event of unfavorable weather, Thursday’s training and qualifications would be canceled, and on Friday two training jumps would be carried out (starting at 11.30) and at 2 p.m. a competition with the participation of 47 registered competitors would be held. The Polish team for the World Cup included Piotr Żyła, Dawid Kubacki, Kamil Stoch, Aleksander Zniszczoł and Paweł Wąsek.
It is difficult to expect that the White and Reds in Bad Mitterndorf will join the fight for the top positions. Poles are not impressed with their form this season. Żyła, Kubacki, Stoch and Zniszczoł are in the third ten of the general World Cup standings. They have never placed in the top ten in an individual competition. Last Sunday, at the end of the Polish Tournament in Zakopane, Zniszczoł took 11th place. In the Nations Cup, the Poles are in sixth place and are clearly losing to the Austrians, Germans, Slovenians, Norwegians and Japanese.
The main candidate for victory in Bad Mitterndorf is the leader of the World Cup general classification – Stefan Kraft, who won seven individual competitions this season, including the last one in Zakopane. During his extensive career, the Austrian stood on the podium of individual World Cup competitions 109 times, which broke the record of the legendary Finn Janne Ahonen. Kraft is also the bronze medalist of the previous World Championships. Individually, Marius Lindvik, who won in Vikersund two years ago, will defend the title. The World Cup runner-up – German Andreas Wellinger – and the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi – this year’s winner of the Four Hills Tournament – also have a chance to triumph. Slovenians: Lovro Kos and the brothers Peter and Domen Prevc can also fight for the top positions. Slovenians always look good on the giant hills. They also defend the trophy in the team competition. However, they will have to cope without Anze Laniska, who tore the collateral ligament in his right knee and will be out for at least two months.
Ziga Jelar, winner of the Small Crystal Globe in ski flying for the 2021/2022 season, was appointed to replace Lanisko.
The size of the Kulm ski jump in Bad Mitterndorf is 235 meters. Its record holder is Peter Prevc, who soared 244 m here in 2016. Kulm is one of the four mammoth ski jumping hills in the world, where top-ranking competitions are often held. The others are in Slovenian Planica, Norwegian Vikersund and German Oberstdorf. The ski jumping hill in Harrahov, Czech Republic, fell into ruin. The last time the Ski Flying Championships were organized there was in 2014.
Thursday, January 25, 2024
11.30 – official training
14.00 – qualifications
Friday, January 26, 2024
1:00 p.m. – trial series
14.00 – first and second series of the individual competition
Saturday, 27.01.2024
1:00 p.m. – trial series
14.00 – third and fourth series of the individual competition
Sunday, January 28, 2024
1:00 p.m. – trial series
14.00 – team competition