Kraft steals the show in first Pyeongchang World Cup event

Austria’s Stefan Kraft won a men’s ski-jump World Cup large hill event on the 2018 Olympic site yesterday.Kraft led after the first jump and secured victory by managing a distance of 137.5 metres second time around, for a points tally of 293.5. The stands were largely empty for the evening competition at the Alpensia Ski-Jumping stadium. It was the first World Cup event held in Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Games host city. Germany’s Andreas Wellinger was second with Poland’s World Cup leader Kamil Stoch third.Second-placed Kraft’s fourth win of the season has moved him onto 1,140 points overall with Stoch on 1,240. Asked if his showing makes him a joint favourite for the World Championships coming up in the Finnish town of Lahti in February and March, Wellinger told Germany’s ARD TV: “We have another competition tomorrow first.”A second large-hill World Cup event takes place at the same venue on Thursday.