Ski jumping-Kobayashi ramps up Olympics prep with Four Hills opener win

[December 30, 2021] 

(Reuters) - Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi ramped up his preparations for next year's Beijing Winter Olympics by winning the first leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Oberstdorf, Germany.

The 25-year-old scored 302 points with jumps of 128.5 metres and 141m to beat the Norwegian duo of Halvor Egner Granerud (299.2) and Robert Johansson (298.6) and record the 23rd World Cup win of his career on Wednesday.

It was Kobayashi's fourth World Cup victory of the season after wins in Engelberg, Klingenthal and Ruka.

"I don't feel any pressure regarding the next competitions or the overall ranking of the Four Hills tournament", Kobayashi said.

Kobayashi's victory also helped him make up ground on overall World Cup leader Karl Geiger, who finished fifth place with 295.9 points.

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi celebrates winning with the trophy REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

"The conditions were okay, my jump could have been better, but it was okay," Geiger said. "I felt the pressure before the competition, even though I didn't want to, but considering all of this it was a good competition."

The Beijing Olympics begin on Feb. 4.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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