Forfang second best in qualifying – all the Norwegians ready for the event in Innsbruck

Johann André Forfang was only surpassed by Austrian Jan Hörl in the qualification for the third event of the ski jumping tour in Innsbruck.

Forfang jumped 127.5 meters, finishing 4.9 points behind Hörl, who achieved a remarkable jump of 135 meters under better wind conditions. Following Forfang in the rankings were Gregor Deschwanden from Switzerland and three other Austrians: Stefan Kraft, Daniel Tschofenig, and Maximilian Ortner.

Tschofenig currently leads the overall standings of the tour after the first two events, holding an 8.1 point lead over Hörl, 8.7 points over Kraft, and 13.6 points over Deschwanden. Forfang, in fifth place, is 22.5 points behind the leader.

Benjamin Østvold placed 13th in the qualifiers, while the other Norwegians had modest results; Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal was 23rd, Halvor Egner Granerud 26th, Marius Lindvik 38th, and Fredrik Villumstad 43rd.

Granerud will face Japanese Sakutaro Kobayashi in the first duel on Saturday, with the remaining Norwegian matchups featuring Vladimir Zografski from Bulgaria against Sundal, Lindvik versus Østvold, Villumstad facing Pius Paschke from Germany, and Jonas Schuster from Austria against Forfang.