After what we saw in the qualifying, we hoped that we would also see long jumps in the competition. We had to wait a while for them, but it was worth it because we got a real jumping show.
The slow one launched a rocket
The first part of the competition was primarily a distance fight. Reaching 130 meters seemed virtually impossible. Only Yevhen Marusiak managed to achieve this feat. He jumped as much as 137.5 meters and could be considered in the fight for good points.
The real jumping started with Jakub Wolny's performance. He performed brilliantly in qualifying, was the leader for some time and finished in the top ten. And in the first series of the competition he reached a much higher level, jumping as much as 138.5 meters. This ultimately gave him seventh place after the first series.
Aleksander Zniszczoł also jumped very far, 137.5 meters. However, this only gave him 17th place after the first series. But this does not mean that he had no chance to fight for a much higher position, the stakes were very close, the differences between individual players were tenths of a point.
Kamil Stoch was also in the third series, jumping 132 meters. He was in 23rd place, but could have attacked in the second series. Unfortunately, Dawid Kubacki said goodbye to the competition because he jumped simply poorly. A distance of 124.5 meters gave him 41st place. He was unlucky Paweł Wąsek. He jumped 125.5 meters, but had problems in flight. He got a blast from the back of the hill, lost control of his skis and fell. Despite this, he faced a favorable wind. He finished in 36th place.
The best after the first series was Michael Hayboeck. He jumped over absolutely everything and everyone, jumping as much as 145 meters. Pius Paschke was second. He landed a few meters away, but had fewer points deducted for wind. The World Cup leader was only 0.3 points behind the Austrian.
Space jumps, Wolny did not disappoint
In the second series, the wind dictated the conditions a bit more. Some players lost out on this, such as Kamil Stoch (127 meters) and Aleksander Zniszczoł (129 meters). Both Polish the jumpers had problems in flight and were unable to pull off these jumps. Timi Zajc was also injured as he was suddenly crushed during the landing and only managed to reach 119.5 meters.
In the second round, Halvor Egner Granerud (139.5 m), Andreas Wellinger, Ryoyu Kobayashi (both 136 m), and Marusiak, who jumped as much as 139 m, competed. The Ukrainian was the biggest surprise of this competition. But the real show was given by Jan Hoerl and Manuel Fettner. They attacked the leaders after jumping at distances of 143 and 145 meters, respectively.
Before the top ten jumps, the conditions improved significantly. Wolny took advantage of the favorable wind and made his longest jump today in the second series, jumping as much as 140.5 meters. This earned him a place in the top ten at the end of the competition.
The top competitors gave a real demonstration of long-distance jumping in Titisee-Neustadt. Anże Lanisek (142.5 m) and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (140 m) outdid themselves. The Norwegian is the first ski jumper from outside German-speaking countries this season to stand on the World Cup podium.
The fight for victory was between Paschke and Hayboeck. The German attacked with a jump of 142 meters. The Austrian responded with dignity by jumping one meter further. But he had a stronger wind, so he lost more points for that. The judges also assessed his jump worse. Therefore, Hayboeck did not retain first place, losing only 0.4 points to the World Cup leader.
Jakub Wolny finished in eighth place, Aleksander Zniszczoł in 19th place, and Kamil Stoch in 25th place.
It was definitely the best competition this season, a real advertisement for ski jumping. The competitors jumped as if inspired. Let's hope that we will see a similar level next weekend in Engelberg.