Lindvik wins at Planica, Kobayashi overall winner, Jelar best ski flyer
Planica - Marius Lindvik of Norway is the winner of the last Ski Jumping World Cup event of the season in Slovenia's Planica on Sunday, while Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan finished 8th to secure his overall win in the World Cup. Slovenia's Žiga Jelar was 6th, enough for him to win the small crystal globe for the best ski flyer of the season.
Lindvik scored 455.1 points in the two runs to win the last event of the season in front of some 12,500 spectators, followed by Yukiya Sato of Japan (446.8) and Slovenia's Peter Prevc (438.6).
This was the third podium finish for the Slovenian team captain Prevc in as many events at Planica this weekend. "The last event was really exceptional, all lads were jumping very far," he told the national broadcaster TV Slovenija.
Four other Slovenians followed Prevc in the 4th to 7th place - Timi Zajc was fourth with 437.2 points and Anže Lanišek (435.7), who scored his personal best of 244.5 metres, was fifth.
Žiga Jelar (435.2), who won the small crystal globe for the best ski flyer of the season, was sixth and Cene Prevc (425.4), who also scored his personal best and today's best jump of 246 metres, was seventh.
Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan finished 8th to secure the large crystal globe for the overall winner in the World Cup (1,621 points), defending his title from the previous season. Karl Geiger of Germany (1,515) finished second.
Jelar, who was followed in the overall ski flying standings by his compatriot Timi Zajc, said that "I'm probably still not aware of what we've managed to accomplish, but I'm grateful to be a part of this team."
In the Nations Cup, Slovenia finished second, behind the Austrians, who scored 47 more points than Slovenia overall to earn their first Nations Cup win in the last eight years.
"We've finished 47 points short, so we will have to start collecting points earlier next time if we want more. We've shown some excellent jumps, great form lately. I hope that next year all of us will raise it to another level," said Lanišek.
The 2021/22 season was the first in history in which three Slovenians finished in the top 10 overall - Lanišek was seventh (936 points), Zajc eighth (711 points) and Cene Prevc tenth (657).