Four competitions, four victories: Austrian Stefan Kraft has been jumping in his own class so far this season. His series of successes even led to the ski jumping superstar apologizing to Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen.
With his two double victories in Ruka and Lillehammer, Kraft celebrated a historic success. The 30-year-old is only the fourth ski jumper to win the first four competitions of a winter, after the Austrians Andreas Felder (1984/85) and Thomas Morgenstern (2007/08) as well as the Finn Janne Ahonen (2004/05).
Morgenstern extended his series to six wins – a record that Kraft can set next weekend in Klingenthal.
“There are so many moments of happiness right now, it’s a lot of fun. You almost can’t dream of a run like that, it just has to happen – just wonderful,” said Kraft at the “ORF” microphone in Lillehammer.
The high-flyer also apologized to Formula 1 star Max Verstappen. “I said today that I’m not that interested in Formula 1 because Max Verstappen always wins there anyway. Now it almost looks a bit stupid,” joked Kraft and assured: “But I enjoy it a lot. And apologies to Max : I enjoy watching Formula 1 again now.”
Ski jumping: Strength after a dream start “just grateful”
Verstappen won the world championship in both 2021, 2022 and 2023. This year the Dutchman even won 19 of 22 races.
It remains to be seen whether Kraft will dominate to a similar extent in the new ski jumping season. “It’s indescribable that you can experience such a wave. You can only be grateful for that, shine, enjoy – and see that it continues like this,” said the 30-year-old on “ZDF” after his double victory in Lillehammer.
It was Kraft’s 34th World Cup victory overall. The men’s record is held by fellow countryman Gregor Schlierenzauer (53).