Event canceled – Ruka individual ski jump blown away by high winds

The Ski Jumping World Cup event scheduled for Sunday in Ruka, Finland, was canceled due to high winds. After about half an hour of delays and with forecasts calling for winds up to 10 m/s through Monday morning, the jury decided to call off the competition for safety reasons.

The instability followed Saturday’s contest, which was halted after the first round because of wind and heavy snowfall, with only one round counted. FIS ski jumping race director Sandro Pertile said he had hoped for a “gift from Santa,” but with the conditions expected to persist there was nothing to do. He added that organizers would attempt to reschedule the event as soon as possible.

Austria head coach Andreas Widhölzl told ORF he anticipated the cancellation early in the day: the strongest winds hit during the take-off phase and made jumping too dangerous. Despite a modest Austrian result on Saturday—Daniel Tschofenig was the top finisher in 12th—Widhölzl said the team had started the season well overall. Stefan Kraft, who skipped Ruka as he awaits the birth of his first child, was an indirect beneficiary of the canceled competition.

The World Cup circuit now heads to Wisła, Poland, next weekend. Earlier in Ruka, the Nordic combined mass-start competition was also canceled after the cross-country portion due to the severe weather.