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Piotr Zyla and Dawid Kubacki emerged victorious in the inaugural World Cup duo contest! Austria’s Stefan Kraft and Daniel Tschofenig came in second, and Japan’s Naoki Nakamura and Ryoyu Kobayashi attained third place.
For many years, the only World Cup team competition was the popular “team competitions” involving three and later four athletes. In the past decade, mixed teams – consisting of two men and two women – have become increasingly common on the competition calendars. The Lake Placid event was the first to feature duos, in which each country is allowed to send two participants and the competition is divided into three rounds.
The Poles began the competition in the third position following Zyla’s jump. After the first round, they advanced to second place, as Kubacki had jumped farther than the size of the hill. The Austrians were in the lead due to the impressive jumps by Tschofenig and Kraft.
In the second round, the Poles jumped extremely well. Zyla was the first to give Poland the advantage and Kubacki furthered the gap with a jump of 127 meters. The Poles repeated their success in the third round with Zyla leading the way and Kubacki ensuring the victory for Poland.