Poland's Ski Jumping Leader Confirms Position, Top Contenders Pull Ahead in Lillehammer

Jan Hoerl was the winner of the World Cup competition held in Lillehammer! Unfortunately, the Polish team was once again outperformed by significantly stronger competitors. To find the names of the Polish team, one has to look all the way down to the thirties.

On Sunday, Lillehammer welcomed the skiers with wintery weather. Both Friday and Saturday's conditions resembled a finale rather than the opening round of the World Cup. A snowstorm was anticipated in advance, leading to slight modifications to the competition schedule at Lysgardsbakken.

In the qualification round held several hours earlier than originally planned, Dawid Kubacki performed the best among the Polish athletes. Unfortunately, he could not replicate his good jump in the competition. A distance of 115 m was not enough to qualify, placing him in 33rd position. Maciej Kot also finished in the first round, ending up in 43rd place with a jump of 102.5 m.

Overall, the highest-placed Polish athlete at the halfway mark was Aleksander Zniszczoł in 22nd place (126.5 m). Paweł Wąsek was 23rd (125.5 m), while Kamil Stoch ranked 29th (118.5 m). The Austrians shone the brightest, with Stefan Kraft leading (139 m), followed by Jan Hoerl (137 m) and Daniel Tschofenig (136.5 m).

Fans were surely hoping for a repeat of the previous day when Paweł Wąsek advanced eight places thanks to an excellent jump in the second series. Unfortunately, today things did not look as promising.

The 25-year-old once again performed the best among Poles but was only 23rd (120 m). Aleksander Zniszczoł was two places lower (117 m). Kamil Stoch improved one position from the first series (28th place, 119.5 m).

In the closing moments, Pius Paschke leaped an impressive distance of 136 m, despite being in fourth place halfway through. He was unable to surpass the current World Cup leader, Tschofenig, making it clear that he would be standing on the podium.

However, Jan Hoerl landed further at 139.5 m. The first-half leader, Kraft, jumped significantly shorter (133.5 m), thus making way for his younger teammate from the team—Tschofenig, to take the podium.