Chaos in Ruka, but no venue change planned — here’s why

Severe, shifting winds and intense snowfall once again made the World Cup weekend in Ruka highly unpredictable. Saturday’s competition was cut to a single round, which was won by overall leader Anže Lanišek. On Sunday, the morning qualification was canceled as the weather problems repeated.

Rafał Kot, former physiotherapist of the Polish team and now a Polish Ski Association (PZN) board member, told WP SportoweFakty that, although these contests are often unfair due to the weather, a change of venue at this time of the season is unrealistic. Ruka concentrates multiple Nordic events—ski jumping, cross‑country and Nordic combined—in one place, which is convenient for television, so he sees no chance that Ruka will be removed from the World Cup calendar in the coming years.

The results behind Lanišek stirred debate. Several athletes not usually in the top group took advantage of the conditions: Bulgaria’s Vladimir Zografski was fourth, France’s Valentin Foubert fifth, and Finland’s Niko Kytösaho eighth.

Poland endured another difficult day. In qualifying, Piotr Żyła and Dawid Kubacki failed to reach even 100 meters and were knocked out. In the competition, 18‑year‑old Kacper Tomasiak saved some face for the team with 18th place, while the remaining Poles finished outside the top 30. “We certainly can’t be calm. Only one athlete in the top thirty is not satisfactory,” Kot assessed.

Organizers halted the event promptly and did not force a second round. “It was the only correct decision. The hill became dangerous,” Kot added.

With qualifications canceled, the field size for Sunday’s competition was set to swell to 64 jumpers, though whether it could start as scheduled at 14:50 remained uncertain given the weather.