‘Winter festival’ World Cup awaits ski jumpers in Ruka
Nov 28, 2024·Ski Jumping
The World’s best male ski jumpers will return to World Cup action, for the second stage in Ruka, Finland, less than a week after a dramatic season opener.
Pius Paschke (GER) and Jan Hoerl (AUT) claimed the men’s individual crowns in Lillehammer during an event which also saw stunning Mixed Team and women’s competitions unfold.
With female ski jumpers next facing off in China in December, the men alone will go head-to-head during the now traditional ‘Ruka Nordic’ weekend.
It will see ski jumping unite with Cross Country, Moguls and Nordic Combined disciplines during a four-day ‘winter festival’ of Nordic sports, which runs from 28 November to 1 December, in eastern Finland.
Ski jumping features on three of those dates, with qualifying commencing on Friday 29 Nov, before World Cups on both the 30 Nov and 1 December.
Ones To Watch - Ruka World Cup
The current World Cup leader after the opening two competitions in Lillehammer is Pius Paschke (GER) who not only finished first and second in the individual events, but also secured the Mixed Team title, during a stunning start to the season for the German team.
At 34, Paschke may be a veteran in the field, who made his senior international debut in the spor back in 2005, but he is proving that age is not always a barrier.
Ruka was in fact the scene of his maiden World Cup success, which came just 12 months ago and it marked the start of a period where the German has undoubtedly been able to demonstrate the best form of his career, having attained five podium places in the last year.
35 points behind Paschke in the current World Cup standings is the first of four Austrian’s who also enjoyed highly productive starts to the season, led by Jan Hoerl (AUT).
He too claimed a podium finish in Ruka at last year’s event, finishing second and will be looking to build on an opening weekend where he followed up third, with an impressive first.
The now 26-year-old Austrian was part of his nation’s Olympic gold medal winning Team Large Hill line-up at Beijing 2022 and enjoyed his individual best-season to date during the 2023/24 campaign, where he claimed eight podium finishes, including two victories.
Hoerl is aiming to further improve his consistency, with the aim of challenging for the overall World Cup crown at the end of this season.
Third in the standings after two races - with 140 points - is the youngest athlete in the top-three, 22-year-old Daniel Tschofenig (AUT).
The Austrian became the individual World junior champion in 2022 at an event where he also claimed victory with his national team-mates in both the Mixed and Men’s Team competitions.
He would go on to claim three third-place finishes on the senior World Cup tour the following year and secured a career-best second-place finish in Trondheim (NOR) in March earlier this year.
Tschofenig matched his best two performances from 2023/24 on the opening weekend of this current campaign, identifying him as an every-strengthening force in the ski jumping field.
Stefan Kraft (AUT) claimed the crystal globe for the third time in his career last season and looked capable of continuing that World Cup winning form during the opening round jumps on each day of competition in Lillehammer.
However, on each occasion he slipped from first to fourth.
The consistency may not have quite been there for the season-opener, but he is still very much the man to beat on the circuit and with 100 points already on the board, he could rise rapidly in the overall rankings with strong performances in Ruka.
FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Ruka (FIN) Schedule
29.11.2024
14:45 – Training
18:00 – QUA Men’s LH
30.11.2024
17:00 – Start Trial Round - WC Men LH
18:00 – Competition start - WC Men LH
01.12.2024
14:45 – QUA - WC Men LH
16:15 – Competition start - WC Men LH
All times listed are EET (Eastern European Time) and are subject to change.
Facts And Figures - Ruka World Cup
Facts And Figures - Ruka World Cup
The Rukatunturi HS142 ski jump hill is located to the north of Kuusamo, which is in the East of Finland, and is the nation’s largest ski jumping hill.
Ruka made its debut as an FIS World Cup host in 1996 and has featured regularly on the calendar since 2002.
The Ruka World Cup weekend, otherwise known as ‘Ruka Nordic’ typically combines Ski Jumping, Cross country skiing and Nordic combined, with Moguls also featuring in 2024.
Three-time World championship medallist Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR) holds the official hill record with a distance of 150.5m, which he achieved in 2022.
Stefan Kraft (AUT), Pius Paschke (GER) and Stephen Leyhe (GER) claimed the podium places in the first Ruka World Cup during the 2023/24 season.
On the second day of competition at the 2023/24 Ruka World Cup in Ruka, Stefan Kraft (AUT) again claimed victory, ahead of Jan Hoerl (NOR) and Andreas Wellinger (GER).
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