Top things to know about the Ski Jumping World Cup 2022/23 season: Preview, schedule, and stars to watch
With Kobayashi Ryoyu on fire, a new Super Team event, and the longest season in ski jumping history for men and women, there is plenty to be excited about.
Ski Jumping
The Ski Jumping World Cup 2022/23 season will be the longest in the sport’s history, beginning on 5 November in Wisla, Poland, and ending on 2 April.
Can anyone catch man-of-the-moment Kobayashi Ryoyu? In the women's, a brilliant rivalry could emerge between Olympic champion Ursa Bogataj and reigning World Cup champion Marita Kramer.
As with any year, the Four Hills Tournament will be a highlight, but arguably the most anticipated event will be the Nordic World Ski Championships at the state-of-the-art Planica venue in Slovenia.
The eastern European nation was on fire at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, winning two golds, a silver, and a bronze, and will be hoping for a repeat performance on home snow.
Also keep an eye out for the Raw Air Tournament in Norway, as well as the new Super Team event that is designed to increase the competition for emerging nations.
Below, we take a look at the top storylines for the Ski Jumping World Cup 2022/23, the stars to watch out for, a schedule, and more.
New Super Team, women’s, and mixed events
The International Ski Federation [FIS] has introduced the Super Team event for 2022/23, primarily to accommodate smaller nations that cannot field a four-person team.
Each Super Team consists of two athletes per nation who compete in a three-round format.
The Super Team events will take place in 2023, with competitions for men on 11 February in Lake Placid, USA and on 19 February in Rasnov, Romania. The women's Super Team will take place 13-15 January in Zao, Japan.
Elsewhere, women will compete on the Ski Flying hill in Vikersund for the first time this winter.
The top 15 athletes, aged 18 and over, in the Raw Air overall rankings will qualify for the non-World Cup event.
There is also a new addition for the Titisee-Neustadt World Cup leg, where an additional mixed team competition will be held on December 10th.
Ski Jumping 2022/23: Male stars to watch
All eyes will be on Beijing 2022 Olympic gold medallist and reigning two-time men's World Cup champion Kobayashi Ryoyu, who is arguably the sport’s biggest star at the moment.
The Japanese 25-year-old is also a two-time Four Hills champion, and is favourite to defend his overall World Cup title after winning individual gold and large hill individual silver at the Winter Olympics in February.
Norwegian Olympic champion Marius Lindvik caused a shock to beat Kobayashi on the Olympic large hill in China, and with eight individual World Cup wins to date, the reigning Ski Flying world champion will be quietly confident of his chances this season.
The other jumpers to keep an eye on are Germany’s Karl Geiger, who finished second overall and won two Olympic bronze medals last season, and Halvor Egner Granerud of Norway, who is looking to reclaim the title he last won in 2020/21.
ALSO READ: Marius Lindvik: "If you don't go 110%, you won't succeed"
Ski Jumping 2022/23: Female stars to watch
On the women’s side, Ursa Bogataj could be in for her best World Cup season yet, having won individual normal hill and mixed team event Olympic golds at Beijing 2022.
The Slovenian 27-year-old took the final event of the 2022 World Cup season to finish third overall, and looks set to improve upon that result this year.
But in order to do so, she will have to beat Austrian reigning World Cup champion Marita Kramer, who was considered the favourite for Olympic gold in Beijing until a positive COVID-19 test ruled her out of the event.
Bogataj’s compatriot, and 2020/21 World Cup winner, Nika Kriznar will also pose a threat thanks to her Raw Air and Alpenkrone victories last year, before helping Slovenia to team gold at Beijing 2022.
Elsewhere, Germany’s Katharina Althaus can beat the best with individual normal hill silver medals at the PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 proving her quality, while Japan’s Takanashi Sara knows what it takes to win a World Cup stage, having done it on four previous occasions.
Ski Jumping World Cup 2022/23 - Men’s schedule
- 4-6 Nov 2022 - Wisla, Poland
- 25-27 Nov - Ruka/Kuusamo, Finland
- 9-11 Dec - Titisee-Neustadt, Germany
- 16-18 Dec - Engelberg, Switzerland
- 28-29 Dec - Oberstdorf, Germany - 4 Hills Tournament
- 31 Dec - 1 Jan - Garmisch, Germany - 4 Hills Tournament
- 3-4 Jan 2023 - Innsbruck, Austria - 4 Hills Tournament
- 5-6 Jan - Bischofshofen, Austria - 4 Hills Tournament
- 13-15 Jan - Zakopane, Poland
- 19-22 Jan - Sapporo, Japan
- 27-29 Jan - Kulm/Mitterndorf, Austria
- 3-5 Feb - Willingen, Germany
- 10-12 Feb - Iron Mountain, USA
- 17-19 Feb - Rasnov, Romania
- 24 Feb-4 Mar - Planica, Slovenia - World Championships
- 10-12 Mar - Oslo, Norway - Raw Air Tour
- 13-16 Mar - Lillehammer, Norway - Raw Air Tour
- 17-19 Mar - Vikersund, Norway - Raw Air Tour
- 25-26 Mar - Lahti, Finland
- 30 Mar-2 Apr - Planica, Slovenia
Ski Jumping World Cup 2022/23 - Women’s schedule
- 4-6 Nov 2022 - Wisla, Poland
- 2-4 Dec - 13-16 Mar - Lillehammer, Norway
- 10-11 Dec - Titisee-Neustadt, Germany
- 28-29 Dec - Villach, Austria - Silvester Tournament
- 30 Dec - 1 Jan 2023 - Ljubna, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Silvester Tournament
- 7-8 Jan - Sapporo, Japan
- 13-15 Jan - Zao, Japan
- 28-29 Jan - Hinterzgarten, Germany
- 4-5 Feb - Willingen, Germany
- 11-12 Feb - Hinzenbach, Austria
- 18-19 Feb - Rasnov, Romania
- 23 Feb-1 Mar - Planica, Slovenia - World Championships
- 10-12 Mar - Oslo, Norway - Raw Air Tour
- 13-15 Mar - Lillehammer, Norway - Raw Air Tour
- 19 Mar - Vikersund, Norway
- 24 Mar - Lahti, Finland