WARSAW, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud stood on the highest podium in the ski jumping FIS World Cup contest in Zakopane, Poland on Sunday.
The organizers canceled the trial round due to windy conditions, putting the contest in question, but finally, the ski jumpers appeared on the hill in front of over 25,000 spectators.
The Polish fans who came to Wielka Krokiew hoped for the triumph as Dawid Kubacki was first after the first round thanks to a jump of 137.5 meters. Jan Hoerl achieved 8.7 points fewer, while the Norwegians Marius Lindvik and Halvor Egner Granerud, who jumped 129m each, had 15.8 points fewer than the leader.
The final round turned out to be a show of Granerud as the 26-year-old took a stunning jump of 141m. Kubacki's effort of 124m wasn't enough to take gold as a bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finished second with 1.1 points fewer than Granerud. The Austrian Stefan Kraft, who impressed with the best result of the day with a jump of 145.5m, got the lowest podium.
"I felt good energy in Poland. I have changed my attitude recently, and I try to do my best in the competition, when it's needed. It helps me a lot", Granerud said just after the competition.
"I'm really happy because it's always cool to win the contest. I tried to stick to my plan, it worked well in the second round. I felt my second jump would be good," the winner added.
Pole Kubacki still leads in the general standings of the FIS World Cup with 1010 points followed by Granerud (896).
Next weekend the ski jumpers will compete in Sapporo, Japan. ■
