Wind chaos in Lahti

Kraft crashes! Hörl best ÖSV eagle in fifth place

Stefan Kraft(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Stefan Kraft missed out on the points on Friday for only the second time in the current Ski Jumping World Cup season. The overall World Cup leader was only just able to avoid a fall on the large hill in difficult wind conditions in Lahti on Friday and was unable to finish higher than 49th.

The victory went to Slovenia's Lovro Kos, who triumphed ahead of Germany's Andreas Wellinger and Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi. Jan Hörl was the best ÖSV jumper in fifth place.

Kraft lost his left ski after the take-off in the first round due to a gust of wind, resulting in an early landing at just 105 meters. The season's dominator had previously only missed out on qualifying for the second round on February 3rd in Willingen in 39th place. Even then, the weather - wind and rain - had put a spanner in the works. "It felt like a lot of crosswind at the top, I never really got a flight system, which worked great twice before," said the 30-year-old from Salzburg, who recently celebrated his 40th World Cup victory in Oberstdorf ski flying.

Stefan Kraft(Bild: Associated Press)

"I caught a gust"
He felt he had done something similar to what he had done in the qualification, which he had previously won. "Somehow I caught a gust, then things happen very quickly in ski jumping. That's very, very bitter." In the overall World Cup, Kraft's lead (1,546 points) over Kobayashi (1,277) has shrunk. Hörl is still fourth with 800 points. The 25-year-old produced the longest jump of the day with 136 meters, but touched the snow with his buttocks and therefore received low marks for his posture, which prevented him from finishing on the podium.

Jan Hörl(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"The jumps were basically at a very high level. The second one was mega, I also had a bit of luck on my side and took advantage of it. Apart from the landing, everything was very cool," Hörl summed up. Daniel Tschofenig dropped back from third to seventh place in the decision, Michael Hayböck from half-time second place to 16th and thus directly behind Manuel Fettner.

Stephan Embacher, on the other hand, was delighted with tenth place and his first top ten finish in the World Cup. "They were very good jumps, I'm very satisfied, I can only be happy. It was a cool start to the weekend," said the 18-year-old. A team competition will follow on Saturday and another individual competition on Sunday.

Large hill in Lahti (FIN): 
1. Lovro Kos (SLO) 262.5 points (127.0/134.0 meters) - 2. Andreas Wellinger (GER) 257.1 (129.5/126.5) - 3. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) 254.9 (127.0/131.0) - 4. Marius Lindvik (NOR) 251.5 (128.5/121.5) - 5. Jan Hörl 251.0 (125.5/136.0) - 6. Johann Andre Forfang (NOR) 249.8 (124.5/131.5). Next: 10th Stephan Embacher 240.7 (124.0/125.0) - 15th Manuel Fettner 236.1 (120.0/130.0) - 16th Michael Hayböck 235.9 (131.0/114.0). Not qualified for the 2nd round: 49th Stefan Kraft (all AUT)