Piotr Zyla wins weather lottery
25. 02. 2023
Piotr Zyla defended his world champion title in the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Planica 2023 with a fantastic second jump in the final round. The Polish Ski Jumper won the gold medal from 13th place after the first round. German women are World Champions in team ski jumping event.
It was not looking good for Piotr Zyla to defend his world champions title from Oberstdorf after the first round of the ski jumping competition on the normal hill in the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Planica 2023. The Polish Ski Jumper was in 13th place but only 5.9 points behind the leader Stefan Kraft. The weather conditions affected the second round but Zyla, who landed at 105 meters in ideal conditions, gained a significant advantage.
Strong winds, rather than rain, hampered the plans of the top ten jumpers, including Anže Lanišek and Timi Zajc, who finished ninth and tenth. Timi Zajc was honest after a demanding competition: "The weather had a big impact. You had to have a bit of luck, and we didn't have it today." Anže Lanišek also did not hide his disappointment with ninth place: "The jumps were good, as I wanted to show them. But to do more, you need to have a little luck. The green line was at 107 meters, but still. Everyone had a chance to win."
Piotr Zyla © BoBo
As the competition approached the end, Zyla was closer to an incredible turnaround. The Pole witnessed a miracle after the second jump of the leader Kraft, who failed to win a medal. The 36-year-old Polish veteran defended his World Champion title on the normal hill from Oberstdorf. The other two places on the podium were taken by Germans, Andreas Wellinger and Karl Geiger, who won eight medals in the last three World Championships on nine events.
German Women Jumping to the Golden Notes
The Germans, with Anna Rupprecht, Luisa Görlich, Selina Freitag and Katharina Althaus, won the world champion title in the women's ski jumping team event on the normal hill. The German team repeated their success from the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Seefeld in 2019. After eight jumps, they scored 843.8 points and convincingly beat the competition for the gold medal. Luisa Goerlich explained the reasons for their success after the competition: "I think we showed solid jumps today because we worked excellently as a team. I am happy that we succeeded. I made a mistake in the first round because I was nervous after the cancellation of the trial round. I quite like having one more training jump before the competition."
Anna Rupprecht, Luisa Görlich, Selina Freitag and Katharina Althaus © BoBo
The defending champions from Oberstdorf, Austria, were 12.7 points behind and won silver for the second time in the last three World Championships. "The feeling is incredible. The cold day started nicely, and we could enjoy the massive support. When Austrians or Slovenians performed, the crowds were extremely loud. It is a special feeling because you do not perform only for yourself, but also for the team, support staff, and the entire country."
A Norwegian team took the lead, crossing the plans of the local ski jumpers to win a medal, so Thea Minyan Bjoerseth is satisfied with the team's achievement: "It was a pretty nice day. Although we did not show our best jumps, it is still nice to win a medal. The conditions were excellent, and the ski jump was well-maintained. We are close to the Austrian team, but we have no regrets," Chiara Kreuzer proudly explained the Austrian team's achievement.
The Slovenian ski jumpers, Maja Vtič, Ema Klinec, Nika Križnar and Nika Prevc, were only 9.5 points away from a great success in front of their home crowd. In the end, they had to settle for an ungrateful fourth place. Ema Klinec: "Today, the team functioned at a high level. We did not make many mistakes, but the competition was better. The place is what it is."
