9:05. Only fifteenth in the overall World Cup ski jumping rankings this winter, Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi seems to be back in form just a few weeks before the World Championships.
On Saturday morning, in any case, he dominated the first competition of the Sapporo stage (Japan). In front of his home crowd, he put on a show, landing at 137 and then 136.5 metres to win his thirty-third World Cup, his first since March 2024.
On the podium, but on 19.7 points, was Austria’s Jan Hoerl (136.5 and 137 metres), followed by Slovenia’s Domen Prevc (137.5 and 135.5 metres), third on 20.2 points. Yellow bib Daniel Tschofenig (136.5 and 137 metres), in fourth place, missed out on third place by a tenth of a point.
Finally, Courchevel’s Valentin Foubert (130.5 and 129.5 metres) made the long trip to Japan pay off with a fine thirteenth place, his second best career result.
Full results
The overall World Cup standings
- The French selection for the Sapporo and Ljubno World Cups
- Sapporo: Stefan Kraft wins the qualifier, Valentin Foubert goes through
