WSC Ski Jumping Planica 2023: competition results and report – Large hill

Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica watch on channels: TVN, Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, Metro TV and Eurosport Extra in Player

Piotr Żyła’s victory in the competition on the normal hill aroused the appetites of the fans, and on Thursday Dawid Kubacki and Kamil Stoch added their share, taking second and third place in the qualifications, respectively. As if that wasn’t enough, already on Friday, during the trial series, the last two repeated this achievement – only the Austrian Stefan Kraft (139 m) was better.

This meant that the Poles are strong, because Żyła always performed better in the competitions themselves than in the qualifications or trainings. Expectations? Eurosport reporter Kacper Merk said just before the competition that in his opinion even three White and Reds will be on the podium.

However, it was not so good, although with a medal. The words of coach Thurnbichler, who said the day before that we are facing an “extremely even race”, turned out to be prophetic.

REPORT FROM THE COMPETITION OF THE WSC ON THE LARGE HILL IN PLANICA

Strong Stoch

Aleksander Zniszczoł was the first of the White-Reds to present himself. He did not disappoint, he did better than in the trial series and reached 124.5 m. Certain promotion, although without much hope of making a surprise in the final series. However, it cannot be said that Thurnbichler chose wrong when he bet on him at the expense of Paweł Wąsek. It was another solid jump for Zniszczol in Planica.

Stoch is presenting a better form every day. In the first series he showed that he has a desire to be in the lead – 131.5 m. Worse by two meters than in the test series, but still very good. After his attempt he was in the lead, but a few jumps later he was overtaken by Germany’s Karl Geiger (137.5 m).

Timi Zajc, who won Thursday’s qualification and now jumped from a lower beam (10th), confirmed his excellent disposition. The 22-year-old jumped 137.5 meters and moved up to first place. The joy of the hosts’ favorite was short-lived – Ryoyu Kobayashi was better by 0.7 points.

Unfortunately, Żyła performed slightly below expectations this time. The gold medalist’s 128.5 meters from the normal hill meant that it would be difficult for him to repeat the feat from a week ago and attack from a distant position. He was already 13 points behind Kobayashi.

Three Poles in the “Ten”

The conditions were less and less favorable, the jumpers were not helped by the strong wind in the back. Kubacki did what he could, but had to be content with a jump of 129 meters. Fortunately, he got a generous compensation. The competitor from Nowy Targ finished the first series in fourth place, 5.9 points behind the leader Kobayashi. Stoch was sixth, Żyła was ninth, and Zniszczoł was 22nd.

Apart from the Japanese, the medal places after the first round were occupied by Zajc and Halvor Egner Granerud (131 m).

What else? The experienced and well-liked Simon Ammann (127.5 m) jumped surprisingly well, and the Ukrainian Jehwen Marusiak (125 m) also enjoyed the promotion to the final round.

Kubacki finished on the podium, Stoch by a hair

In the second series, Zniszczol improved his result – 127 m. Such a performance should give him confidence before the next competitions.

After twenty jumps the defending champion on the large hill Kraft was in the lead with 136 meters. Several dozen minutes earlier, he was allowed to jump in unfavorable conditions, which ruled out his chances for the podium.

Then Zyla jumped. It was much better than in the first series – 133.5 meters.

Then Stoch flew away – 134.5 meters, which ultimately translated into fourth place, although for a moment it seemed that we would have two Poles on the podium.

On the podium was Kubacki, who was leading after his attempt at 135 meters.

However, on that day Timi Zajc and Ryoyu Kobayashi turned out to be even better. The first jumped 137 meters and won, the second 129.5 was enough for second place. Kubacki has to settle for the bronze medal, which is still a success considering that he struggled with a back injury right after arriving in Planica.

Team competition on Saturday. Start at 16.30.

Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica watch on channels: TVN, Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, Metro TV and Eurosport Extra in Player

Saturday, 03/04/2023
15:30 – Men’s trial series
16:30 – Men’s team competition