Ski jumper Andreas Wellinger landed on the podium for the tenth time this season at the World Cup in Sapporo, Japan.
The two-time season winner had to admit defeat in third place only to the outstanding Austrian Stefan Kraft and local hero Ryoyu Kobayashi.
Wellinger flew at 127.5 and 134.0 m on the Okurayama hill; after the first round he was still in fourth place. In the fight for the overall World Cup, the Bavarian still lost second place to Four Hills Tournament winner Kobayashi.
Kraft is still clearly in the lead in the fight for the crystal ball. The Austrian won his 39th World Cup victory and moved up to third place in the “all-time” best list behind compatriot Gregor Schlierenzauer (53 victories) and the Finn Matti Nykänen (46), who died in 2019.
Ski jumping oldie Kasai collects World Cup point
Noriaki Kasai caused great cheers. The oldest jumper in World Cup history made it into the second round in his first start in four years and the 570th of his career, but had to settle for 30th place. The 51-year-old was still the fourth-best Japanese and collected his first World Cup point since March 2019.
From a German perspective, there was a big gap behind Wellinger, as has often been the case in recent weeks. As the second best DSV Adler, Stephan Leyhe, who came second once in Sapporo in 2020, followed in 16th place.
A week after the first podium finish of his career, Philipp Raimund had to settle for position 21, but was still ahead of Karl Geiger (22nd) and Felix Hoffmann (27th). As in Lake Placid, Pius Paschke (34th) was eliminated early.