A Sensational Leader Emerges in the World Cup After Lillehammer Events

Originally published in Przegląd Sportowy on November 24, 2024

A big surprise at the top of the overall classification of the World Cup! The leader remains Pius Paschke, who performed excellently in the two opening competitions of the season in Lillehammer. However, the German must keep an eye behind him as a slew of Austrians is chasing him down. Sunday’s competition was forgettable for the Polish team, and the sight of the World Cup standings is painful for us. See how the World Cup classification looks after the first two competitions in Lillehammer.

Pius Paschke has proved that his Saturday victory in the first World Cup competition in Lillehammer was no fluke. In the second competition this year, the German had to concede to Jan Hoerl, yet he retained his lead in the overall World Cup classification with a score of 180 points.

Right behind him are the Austrians Jan Hoerl (145 points), Daniel Tschofenig (140 points), Stefan Kraft (100 points), and an outstanding surprise from the early season: Maximilian Ortner (92 points).

Unfortunately, the Polish athletes are nowhere to be found at the top of the overall standings. In Sunday’s trials, three of our representatives earned points, but all finished in the third ten. Once again, the best was Pawel Wąsek, classified in 14th position on Saturday, who concluded the competition this time in 23rd place. Aleksander Zniszczoł (6 points) and Kamil Stoch (3 points), who opened his account for the season, also earned points.

After two individual competitions this season, Wąsek has emerged as the leader of the Polish team, currently taking 17th place in the overall with 26 points. Zniszczoł follows him at 23rd place (14 points), with Dawid Kubacki closing the third ten at the 30th spot (5 points), just behind Stoch (31st place, 3 points).

The team coached by Thomas Thurnbichler has another chance to improve their point scores in Ruka, Finland, where two individual competitions are scheduled for the next weekend. Following that, the World Cup circuit will visit Wisła.