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Slovenian dominance in Lahti
At the penultimate World Cup of the season in Lahti, Finland, the Slovenian athletes stood out with strong performances.
Saturday - 22.03.2025:
Anze Lanisek delivered a strong performance in the final individual large hill event of the season, securing his first win of the year. With jumps of 131 and 128 meters, the Slovenian earned a total of 276.9 points, edging out Austria's Stefan Kraft, who achieved distances of 127.5 and 126.5 meters (270.8 points). Poland’s Pawel Wasek took third place with jumps of 127 and 127.5 meters (263.9 points).
This victory marked Lanisek’s seventh career World Cup win and his first in over a year, with his last victory being at the 2024 New Year’s competition during the Four Hills Tournament.
Austria’s veteran Manuel Fettner made a strong impression, jumping 126 and 127 meters to take fourth place, missing the podium by just 0.6 points. The best German skier was Philipp Raimund, who reached the fifth spot with jumps of 125 and 127 meters, closely followed by Andreas Wellinger in sixth. Other Austrian skiers such as Manuel Ortner (8th) and Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi (9th) also finished in the top ten.
The overall World Cup standings remain exciting, especially for Daniel Tschofenig, who moved closer to his first overall victory with his seventh-place finish, while Jan Hörl only managed 15th.
Sunday - 23.03.2025:
On Sunday, Slovenian ski jumpers Lovro Kos and Anze Lanisek triumphed in the Super Team competition. The duo scored 813.4 points to secure the win ahead of Austria’s Manuel Fettner and Stefan Kraft, who finished second with 809.3 points. The third-place spot went to the Japanese team of Ren Nikaido and Ryoyu Kobayashi with 802.5 points.
The battle for the win between Slovenia and Austria remained tight until the last jump. The key to victory came from a strategic decision by the head coach to shorten Lanisek's starting gate, allowing him to achieve a precise jump of 124 meters, earning crucial bonus points.
The German duo of Philipp Raimund and Andreas Wellinger, however, couldn’t match the performance they had hoped for. Raimund, in particular, lost valuable meters compared to his competitors and finished the final round after only 118.5 meters. Wellinger delivered his best jump in the second round with 126.5 meters, but the gap to winner Lanisek proved too wide to close.
The World Cup now moves on to Planica, where the season will conclude at the legendary Letalnica ski flying hill next weekend, with two individual events and a team ski flying competition. Training and qualification will take place on Thursday.