The Austrian ski jumper Stefan Kraft went through a real emotional roller coaster ride on the Raw Air Tour in Vikersund on Saturday. Because: During the trial run, he almost set a new record – or could also seriously injure himself at the same time.
Stefan Kraft will not soon forget this day. “That was the craziest day of my ski jumping career in terms of emotions and the adrenaline rush,” the top star is quoted as saying in the “Kronen Zeitung”. After the first jump on Saturday, the trial run, there wasn’t much missing until a new world record was set.
The 29-year-old flew an unbelievable 249 meters, but he could not stand the jump. Kraft even briefly hit the back of his head in the snow. “I thought I’d break both my legs,” he confessed. Fortunately, the team Olympic champion from Beijing was not injured and was then able to start the competition normally.
Kraft: “I’m proud of myself and super happy with second place”
There, Stefan Kraft impressively demonstrated that he hadn’t let the accident upset him. 239.5 meters in the first and 215.4 in the second round meant second place behind the Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud. After the big shock, the podium place was all the better: “I’m proud of myself and super happy with second place.”
For Stefan Kraft it was also the 13th podium finish this season. In the raw-air overall standings, he is now 28 points behind the Norwegian, who had two top jumps of 235.5 and 222 meters.
On Sunday, Stefan Kraft and Halvor Egner Granerud will do it all: After the qualification (2:30 p.m.), the second individual competition (4:00 p.m.) from the “Monsterbäkken” is on the program. In the morning (10:00 a.m.) it’s the women’s turn to celebrate their ski flying premiere in Vikersund.