Yukiya Sato wins qualification in Zakopane

Japanese Yukiya Sato won the qualification in Zakopane on Friday evening. Sato jumped on 133 m (139,8 point) and took first place ahead of Markus Eisenbichler (132 m; 137,0 points) and local hero Andrzej Stekała (130 m; 135,8 point).

In freezing temperatures, Sato has already proven in training, that he can jump exceptionally well on Wielka Krokiew in Zakopane. After today's performance, Sato found himself at the forefront of Sunday's individual competition. The first competition in Zakopane will be a team event on Saturday.

In addition to Sato, Markus Eisenbichler also showed his top form in the qualification. He was happy with his distance jump 132 m: "Today was stable, it was the beginning, what I wanted. In the team competition tomorrow we want to take the top spot on the podium, but of course we also know, that the opponents are very strong.” Severin Freund, Pius Paschke, Karl Geiger and Markus Eisenbichler will be in the German team tomorrow.

World Cup leader Halvor Egner Granerud had a very bad day today. The Norwegian did not make a single good jump all day and only finished 43. place in qualifying 117 m. He advanced to the competition, but doubts remain about Graneruda's form, who has already won six World Cup competitions this winter.

Gregor Schlierenzauer has replaced Stefan Kraft in the Austrian national team this weekend. After Covid infection and back problems, Kraft is taking a break, to recharge the batteries. Z 39. in today's qualifiers, Schlierenzauer did not make it to the team for Saturday's competition. Austria will be represented by Michael Hayboeck, John Hoerl, Philipp Aschenwald and Daniel Huber.

The World Cup in Zakopane is one of the most important events of the season for ski jumpers, and the atmosphere in the stands from over 20000 fans is unique. This year, spectators are not allowed on the hill in Poland, so there remains a spectacular sporting event without spectators to watch on TV.