The ski jumpers are currently preparing for the World Cup winter, and the summer Grand Prix is also coming up soon. One of the scene’s superstars seems to be in strong early form.
Next week, the traditional Summer Grand Prix begins with two jumps in Courchevel in France. Ryoyu Kobayashi will not be competing, but will be training in his home country of Japan. Last season’s Four Hills Tournament winner already seems to be in pretty good shape.
The 27-year-old won a Japanese competition in Sapporo at the weekend, showing a strong jump of 141.5 meters in the first round. In the second round, Kobayashi only managed 129.5 meters, but still won the competition.
Also present was “Pterosaur” Noriaki Kasai: The 52-year-old narrowly missed the podium in fourth place.
Ryoyu Kobayashi shows nerves
After the victory, Kobayashi expressed his satisfaction with his performance: “It was a difficult and windy jump, but I was in the lead halfway through. I showed nerves in the second round. The wind died down before my jump, but I’m happy that I managed to win. It was my first competition this summer, I tried to stay calm and do my best,” said the superstar on “STV.jp”.
Kobayashi wants to be just as impressive in the 2024/25 World Cup winter as he was in the previous season: in 2023/24 he triumphed in the Four Hills Tournament for the third time, even winning the legendary German-Austrian series without winning a single day. In the overall World Cup, Kobayashi took second place behind the Austrian Stefan Kraft.
After the end of the season, the Olympic champion from Beijing set an unofficial world record. He flew 291 meters from a specially constructed monster ski jump in Iceland. However, the world association FIS does not officially recognize the record flight.
Source: www.sport.de
