Granerud defeated by Monster Jump, but leads the jump week – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– Leading the World Cup and jumping week at the same time feels completely unreal, says Halvor Egner Granerud to NRK after the New Years jumping race.

Granerud won the last five World Cup races before jumping week, but was a bit unlucky with the conditions and had to settle for fourth place in the opening race at Oberstdorf this Christmas.

In the New Year’s jump race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the 24-year-old led after a 137-meter jump in the first round.

So the conditions should play a role again:

When Dawid Kubacki of Poland started as the penultimate jump in the final round, he achieved excellent conditions and flew up to 144 meters and the hill record.

Then the jury decided to wait to free Granerud down the hill. When the Norwegian was about to jump, the buoyancy was gone. Still, he jumped 136 meters and finished second in the race.

– Kubacki had a bit of luck

Kubacki had 5.3 points deducted due to good conditions. Granerud scored an extra 0.9 points in wind compensation. That says it all about the difference between the conditions.

National team coach Alexander Stöckl admits the situation was perceived as somewhat dramatic

– I was quite tense, of course. But luckily Halvor made a similar jump to first place with slightly more demanding conditions. I would say that Kubacki had some luck, especially in the last part of the flight phase where he took air from below, he points out.

– There’s something about being alone at the top. He is demanding on himself. And when you have to get on and off the boom, you realize that it is due to the conditions. That he delivers as he does, is powerful, that is, says Anders Jacobsen, who is currently the last Norwegian to win show jumping week.

– Stupid for not winning

Now Granerud may be next. He took the lead in jumping week after two races, exactly four points ahead of Karl Geiger and 6.7 points ahead of Kamil Stoch.

– Top shelf delivery in jump after jump after jump. It should hardly work, says NRK jumping expert Johan Remen Evensen.

“I have never made an athlete so clear and determined what to do,” says a very impressed national team coach, Alexander Stöckl.

Stöckl, Evensen and Jacobsen also pay tribute to the Kubacki jump, especially since he reached 144 meters.

– Then it is extremely difficult to beat him, says Stöckl.

Although Granerud is very happy with both the effort and the overall management, he has mixed feelings:

– In a way, it’s a bit uncomfortable not to win. I really liked winning and I want to win more, says Granerud.

Johann André Forfang was number nine in the New Year’s jumping race, while Daniel André Tande was number 15.

Already on Saturday there is a qualification in Innsbruck.