Stefan Kraft took the win in the season-opener of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup

The first competition of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup was exciting and very high-level, with Austria’s Stefan Kraft claiming the victory in front of three Germans, earning a total of 326.6 points in Saturday’s competition. Kraft’s impressive jumps make him one of the top contenders for tomorrow’s race as well.

The rest of the podium was claimed by the German team, with Pius Paschke and Stephan Leyhe completing the top three. The World Cup opener was a significant success, with six German jumpers making it into the top twelve. Surprise contender Paschke secured the first podium of his career, and Leyhe returned to the podium after an injury-filled drought of over three years.

Defending World Cup overall champion Halvor Egner Granerud had a challenging season opener, finishing only in 16th. Despite that, he ended up being the best Norwegians.

Among the Finns, Kasperi Valto, Antti Aalto, and Niko Kytösaho advanced to the second round, earning their first World Cup points of the season. Valto achieved a career-best performance, initially landing in 9th place after a 137.5-meter jump in the first round but later dropping to 25th in the second round. Aalto was however the highest-placed Finn, securing the 18th position, followed closely by Kytösaho in 19th.

The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup continues in Ruka on Sunday, with the qualifying starting at 15:50 local time and the final immediately after at 17:15.

Results HS142

Elias Jolanki & Eemil Untamala, Laajasalon opisto

Listen, what Stefan Kraft has to say after the first victory of the season