Kobayashi & Westman ‘excited’ by Falun’s World Cup return

Nov 24, 2025·Ski Jumping

Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) and home-favourite Frida Westman (SWE) will be two key ones-to-watch in Falun - ©Thibaut/Volk/NordicFocus

For the first time in over 11 years Falun is back on the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup calendar with the world’s best athletes set for their second venue showdown of the season.

The men’s field will be the first in action and with barely 36 hours having passed since the conclusion of their highly entertaining World Cup Large Hill double in Lillehammer (NOR) they will now go head-to-head on two separate hills in Sweden.

They will first take on the Normal Hill (25 November), before the Large Hill contest 24 hours later. The women begin their Falun campaign on the Large Hill (28 Nov) before completing their programme on the Normal Hill (29-30 November).

“I'm excited about the facility in Falun,” World Cup leader Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) tells FIS.

“I've never jumped there before and I'm really looking forward to the competitions on Tuesday and Wednesday in Sweden.”

In addition to Kobayashi, reigning Crystal Globe champion Daniel Tschofenig, his Austrian team-mates Stefan Kraft and Jan Hoerl, together with World champion Domen Prevc (SLO) and Felix Hoffmann (GER) are all key ones-to-watch on the men’s side of the sport.

Were Kraft to finish in the top-four during the first Falun contest he would surpass the record of 15,758 World Cup points held by Janne Ahonen (FIN) and become the highest scorer in FIS Ski Jumping history.

Falun was part of the line-up during the first-ever FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season back in 1979-1980 and was a regular fixture throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.

However, after hosting a stage of the men’s World Cup in 2002, it was another 12 years before athletes would again grace the venue, with women joining men for the first time during a World Cup event in Falun.

The historic contest was won by Japanese icon Sara Takanashi (JPN), with team-mate Yuki Ito placing second, but there were no Swedish athletes within either the women’s or men’s field.

That will change for the 2025/26 edition with host-nation hero Frida Westman (SWE) confirmed to be making a landmark appearance in her homeland.

“It's going to be really fun and exciting,” she says. “I've never jumped on the Large Hill, so I'm really looking forward to it and I really hope that as many people as possible will come and cheer!

“I hope there will be lots of noise, lots of energy in the venue and lots of music so people can really enjoy themselves. It will be really fun and I hope that the crowd really comes alive to make a great atmosphere and support me.”

Westman made history in 2022 by becoming the first Swedish ski jumper to attain a place on a World Cup podium for 30 years when she came third in Wisla (POL).

Ahead of the following season it was announced that her nation had struck an agreement which would enable her to train, travel and live with the world-leading Norwegian team in a bid to make further progress in the sport.

Unfortunately, she sustained a serious anterior cruciate ligament damage during a training fall in Trondheim barely a month later and missed the entire 2023/24 campaign.

The 24-year-old made her comeback at the 2025 World Championships, which took place at her Norwegian training base and she has been gaining greater confidence back in competition while contesting the FIS Grand Prix circuit in recent months.

Westman placed 14^th and ninth during an encouraging World Cup return in Lillehammer (NOR) at the weekend.

“I feel both proud and motivated for what's to come,” she wrote on social media. “I have fought for a long time to get here and I still have a way to go, but it is important to be happy with the small victories.

“The hill (in Sweden) hasn’t been in competition since 2015 so I think this is really good for Sweden and I hope the Swedish people get there and cheer us on.”

Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) will begin as the favourite in the women’s events, having won both of the individual contests and playing an important role during Japan’s landmark Mixed Team success, to claim a hat trick of titles on the opening weekend in Lillehammer.

Reigning Crystal Globe, Two Nights and World champion Nika Prevc (SLO) will also be among the main contenders are showing an improvement in form during the second World Cup in Norway, where she placed second.

Abigail Strate (CAN) and rising star Heidi Traaserud (NOR) are also likely to be key ones-to-watch when the women’s events get underway on 28 Nov.