The Japanese hill fighter is still in high spirits.
Kasai made a return to the World Cup as the oldest competitor in history. Stock photo from 2019. PDO
A living legend of hill jumping, 51 years old Noriaki Kasai flew to the World Cup points in Sapporo on Saturday morning.
The Japanese jumper became the oldest hill jumper to reach World Cup points.
Kasai jumped 117 meters in the first round in suurmäki. At number 28, a place was lost in the second round.
In the second round, Kasai’s jump fell short of 104 meters. In any case, the world cup point was lost in the 30th place.
Kasai’s World Cup began 35 years ago precisely in Sapporo. All in all, he has now competed in 570 World Cup races. No one else has achieved the same.
The competition was won by Austria Stefan Krafth. Only the Finns made it to the second round Antti Aaltowhich was 28th in the final results.
Aalto was not completely satisfied with his competition performance of the day.
– Yes, today’s competition was quite disappointing. Two weak jumps, and I was definitely not at my level today. Of course, there were good individual things in jumping, but there is enough to do. I hope I can put the package together better by tomorrow, Aalto commented in the announcement of the Finnish Ski Association.
The Hill Jumping World Cup continues on Sunday in Sapporo with qualifying.