Yesterday, the day before the competition, three training rounds were held on the large hill as scheduled. Just like before the normal hill event, we present our predictions.
The clear favorite for the Olympic gold medal is Domen Prevc 🇸🇮. The overall World Cup leader, as we predicted, did not win a medal on the normal hill, but he has a much better chance on the large hill. The Slovenian showed power in every training session he took part in and made it clear that he is aiming for victory.
The second candidate for a medal is Jan Hoerl 🇦🇹, whose training jumps were very good. If he doesn’t “choke” — something that has happened several times this season — he is a serious contender for the podium.
The third most serious contender seems to be Ren Nikaido 🇯🇵. The Japanese jumper has been performing brilliantly all season, and the training sessions were no different. Excellent jumps combined with Ren’s strong mentality could bring another medal for his team.
Of course, we cannot overlook jumpers such as Philipp Raimund 🇩🇪 — the normal hill Olympic champion — Ryoyu Kobayashi 🇯🇵, Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal 🇳🇴, or Gregor Deschwanden 🇨🇭.
Who surprised us positively? Hektor Kapustik 🇸🇰. The Slovak showed in training that he won’t just be fighting for a place in the second round, but also for a spot in the top ten. He realistically has almost no chance of winning a medal, but a strong result is definitely within reach.
Who disappointed? The entire Austrian team, led by Daniel Tschofenig 🇦🇹. The only Austrian showing a high level was the previously mentioned Jan Hoerl, who is probably the nation’s only serious podium contender. Stefan Kraft and Daniel Tschofenig looked particularly poor. Both struggled even to make the top 30.
What are Poland’s chances of winning a medal? Rather slim. The best of our team will most likely be Kamil Stoch, who came close to the top positions several times in training. Despite some good jumps, he is unlikely to break into the very top group that includes Prevc, Hoerl, Nikaido, and Raimund. Kacper Tomasiak and Paweł Wąsek performed slightly below expectations, although all three proved that qualifying for the second round should be a formality.
It is worth remembering that this is our subjective opinion, based on both the training sessions and the entire season. The individual competition on the large hill starts at 6:45 PM.