The 30-year-old from Salzburg triumphed for the first time on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze and for the 36th time in the World Cup. Ryoyu Kobayashi finished 1.3 points behind in second place. For the 27-year-old Japanese, four second places were enough to secure the “Golden Eagle” for the overall tour victory for the third time. The German Andreas Wellinger came second ahead of Kraft.
For Kobayashi it is the third tour victory following 2018/19 (Grand Slam) and 2021/22. For the first time since Janne Ahonen in 1998/99, an athlete achieved the feat of winning the tour without winning the day. Manuel Fettner in fourth place and Clemens Aigner in sixth once once more ensured a strong team result for the ÖSV. Thanks to an improvement in the second round, Innsbruck winner Jan Hörl came tenth immediately ahead of Michael Hayböck.
“There’s nothing nicer”
“Incredible. To be able to do that, there’s nothing better. To do such awesome jumps at home in front of so many friends, in front of so many fans – I’m incredibly happy,” said Kraft in the ORF interview. He trains so hard for something like this. The ÖSV ace, with 909 points in the World Cup, described his performance in the tour as “very good”. The fact that Austria has had to wait for a tour victory since Kraft’s triumph in 2015 was absolutely bearable for him.
Image: (APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)
“You need the momentum going forward, that’s what we said. That wasn’t quite there, I don’t really care regarding that now. I’m at home at the top now. I’ll really enjoy that now,” emphasized the Pongauer. After three third places at home, the winning anthem was played for him for the first time in Bischofshofen. Kraft celebrated a World Cup victory for the sixth time this season. He then described Kobayashi as a “deserved” champion. “He’s a really nice guy, his jumping style is incredible. To win the thing three times – respect, you can only take your hat off,” said Kraft.
“You have to acknowledge that without envy”
Kobayashi was also in the lead in the day’s ranking before the last jump, but was left behind by Kraft at the finish. That wasn’t a problem for the Japanese. “I’m very excited and happy. Of course I wanted to win, but I’m very happy,” said Kobayashi. There were also only words of praise from Wellinger, who finished fifth on the day, even if the first German tour victory in 22 years didn’t work out. “He was the best, you have to acknowledge that without envy.” In the end, there were 24.5 points between the two players, with Kraft a further eight points behind.
Hayböck draws a positive conclusion
Image: (APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)
Hörl in fourth, Hayböck in sixth and Aigner in eighth also made it into the top ten, underlining a strong ÖSV performance in the past few days. However, local hero Hörl was “a bit disappointed” because he had expected more following the Innsbruck success. Hayböck, on the other hand, summed up positively. “It was very consistently good ski jumping from me. Sixth in the overall ranking is also good.” Bischofshofen remains a good ÖSV ground: following Daniel Huber in 2022, an Austrian triumphed once more, it was the 25th red-white-red victory on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze.
