Impressive Austrians claim Men’s World Cup team victory in Zakopane

FIS | Impressive Austrians claim Men’s World Cup team victory in Zakopane

An outstanding performance saw favorites Austria claim victory in the Men’s Team World Cup event in Zakopane, Poland, on Saturday.

The Austrian quartet of Daniel Tschofenig, Jan Hoerl, Stefan Kraft, and Maximilian Ortner achieved a combined total of 1170.4 points from their eight jumps across two rounds, finishing 40.8 points clear of Slovenia, who secured their first World Cup podium of the season. Norway landed in third place.

Austrians deliver when it matters

"Of course, we were the favorites, and we knew that,” says Austria's Stefan Kraft. "But you have to deliver. You have to make your best jumps and stay focused. A team competition always has different rules and you have to make eight really good and stable jumps as a team."

In the first round, Maximilian had a spectacular jump, and in the second round, Jan started perfectly. Kraft expressed pride in the team’s performance.

Jan Hoerl set a strong standard in the first round with a 137.0m jump, scoring 150.9 points. The Austrians led by 19.8 points over Norway after the first round and extended their lead significantly in the second.

Slovenia improved drastically in the final round, with Anze Lanisek producing the day’s best jump at 159.0 points to help his team secure silver. Lanisek was taken aback by the margin between his team and the Austrians.

The Germans, led by Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger, unfortunately, did not make it onto the podium, finishing fourth with a total of 1110.0 points.

Coming up…

The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Zakopane continues on January 19 with the individual World Cup, where the current leader is Daniel Tschofenig, who topped the individual qualification rankings.

While the men compete in Poland, the women will jump in Sapporo this weekend, with Alexandria Loutitt soaring to her first World Cup win of the season.

See also: Ski Jumping