Japan's Kobayashi retakes ski jumping World Cup lead
Japan's Kobayashi retakes ski jumping World Cup lead
Japanese star Ryoyu Kobayashi started the final weekend of ski jumping action before the Winter Olympics with victory in Willingen to reclaim the World Cup lead on Saturday.
The Four Hills champion came out on top in a large hill event which was cut to just one jump because of poor weather.
Kobayashi, who won the overall title in 2019, soared out to 145 metres and was awarded 115.6 points, beating Norway's Halvor Egner Granerud by four points.
The 25-year-old is now 27 points clear of previous leader Karl Geiger in the overall standings after the German could only finish 19th on home snow.
"Of course, I'm happy about my win. I was also lucky with the conditions today, but that's what you need to finish on top on days like today. It was really difficult," Kobayashi told the FIS website after his 26th World Cup win.
Granerud's compatriot Marius Lindvik completed the podium.
In the women's event, Austria's Marita Kramer continued her dominance of the season, securing her sixth win from 10 competitions this campaign.
The jumpers return for large hill events on Sunday, before departing for the Beijing Games, which open on Friday.
(L.Møller--DTZ)
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