Spectacle, drama, excitement – the Ski Flying World Championships at the Kulm in Bad Mitterndorf/Austria deliver what the fans had hoped for on the first day of competition. At the top there is a duel between the Slovenian Timi Zajc and the Austrian Stefan Kraft for the individual world championship title. But Andreas Wellinger from Ruhpolding also still has the best chance of winning a medal.
With jumps of 222.0 and 218.5 meters, Wellinger took fourth place after the first day. He is just 0.5 points behind the bronze place, which is occupied by the Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang. This means that with a good performance everything is still possible for the 28-year-old, who has already won World Cup silver with the team in 2016 and 2022, but is still missing an individual medal at a Ski Flying World Championships. Behind Wellinger, the Slovenian Lovro Kos and the Pole Piotr Zyla are waiting for mistakes.
The greatest distances of the day with 228.5 and 227 meters were achieved by the Slovenian Timi Zajc, who stepped in for his injured teammate Anze Lanisek in the absence of his injured teammate Anze Lanisek and has the best starting position before the title is decided in two more rounds on Saturday falls. Stefan Kraft (Austria/225.5/219.0 m) came closest to him.
Wellinger: “There’s not much missing”
“There’s not much left, I’m really close. If I can do that, anything is possible,” said Wellinger on ZDF. In the evening there will be regeneration and analysis of the jumps, said the Upper Bavarian, who is optimistic that he can still catch up with half the point on Forfang. National coach Stefan Horngacher is also looking forward to Saturday: “We will prepare well and try to go one better.”
Fettner is already out with a near fall
Some of the favorites, on the other hand, are already far behind after the first day or have already left completely. Manuel Fettner (Austria) was unable to qualify for the second round after he was only able to avoid a fall during his botched attempt. Four Hills Tournament winner Ryoyu Kobayashi is also too far behind to have a say in the top spots.
In addition to Andreas Wellinger, Pius Paschke (WSV Kiefersfelden), Karl Geiger (SC Oberstdorf) and Stephan Leyhe (SC Willingen) competed for the DSV. Philipp Raimund came short in fifth place and was condemned to watch. Each nation is only allowed to send four athletes to the start. The only exception: Norway, which is the defending champion in Marius Lindvik.
Leyhe in eleventh place – Geiger and Paschke far away from the top
However, the Norwegians immediately decimated themselves because Halvor Egner Granerud was disqualified before his first jump. After two jumps, Johann Andre Forfang is her best and still has a chance of getting a medal in fourth place.
The remaining DSV Eagles can no longer intervene in the medal events. After initially disappointing 207.5 m, Stephan Leyhe was able to improve in the second round (216.5 m) and is still in eleventh place. Karl Geiger only managed a solid jump of 213.0 m. In the second round he landed at 180.0 m and fell far behind. However, the Oberstdorfer was once again unlucky with the wind conditions. Pius Paschke (198.5/195.0 m) had no chance.
“It was the best flight I did today,” said Stephan Leyhe on ZDF. Karl Geiger said he took the good feeling from the first round with him, but was still looking for the right flight system.
Team flying at the end
At the end of the four-day event, team flying takes place on Sunday (2 p.m.). Given the poor form of the athletes, Germany is more of an outsider at the start alongside Wellinger.