Halvor Egner Granerud is comfortably in the lead at the Four Hills Tournament after the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Norwegian also landed on top of the podium at the second station of the ski jumping classic. A result that moved his girlfriend to tears.
Ski jumper Halvor Egner Granerud has done it again. As at the start in Oberstdorf, the 26-year-old secured the day’s victory and thus prevailed again in the long-distance duel with the World Cup dominator Dawid Kubacki.
Granerud (303.7 points) jumped over 140.0 and 142.0 meters and landed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ahead of Slovenian Anze Lanisek (297.3) and Poland’s Dawid Kubacki (294.4).
Granerud’s girlfriend Karoline Nilsen was particularly happy afterwards. The Norwegian shed tears after the New Year’s competition, which was captured by the cameras in the arena. “It’s easy to touch,” Granerud later revealed to the Dagbladet newspaper.
Great emotions at the Four Hills Tournament
“I didn’t start crying myself. But it wasn’t far off that I would have done it at the award ceremony,” explained the man of the hour in ski jumping. “It’s fantastic to put in a performance like that when the whole family is here,” said Granerud.
The Four Hills Tournament is next in Innsbruck. The hill at Bergisel is not one of Granerud’s favourites. “We had our disagreements in the past. But I hope that time will heal all wounds and that we can be friends again this year,” revealed the ski jumper.
Thanks to his strong performances in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Granerud has at least created a comfortable cushion in the overall standings. The Scandinavian ranks 26.8 points ahead of Kubacki.