First, let’s start with a short season preview. The 2018 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup will be the 39th World Cup season in ski jumping for men and the 21st official World Cup season in ski flying. The season will begin on 19 November 2017 in Wisła, Poland, and will conclude on 25 March 2018 in Planica, Slovenia. The season will be interrupted by the 2018 Winter Olympics which take place from 9 to 25 February in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
There were some pre-season injuries, Gregor Schlierenzauer suffered a knee injury, while Kenneth Gangnes and Severin Freund suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire season.
Stefan Kraft dominated the sport of ski jumping last season, winning the overall and ski flying World Cup standings, the individual large and normal hill events at the world championships and the inaugural edition of Raw Air. At Raw Air 2017, Kraft also set the current world record of 253.5 metres at the ski flying hill Vikersundbakken. Kraft can become the first ski jumper to win the win the overall World Cup two years in a row since Janne Ahonen in 2004-2005. He can become the third Austrian to successfully defend his overall World Cup title, after Armin Kogler (1981-1982) and Andreas Goldberger (1995-1996). Four Austrians have won multiple overall titles in the World Cup: Goldberger (3), Kogler (2), Gregor Schlierenzauer (2) and Thomas Morgenstern (2). Kraft can join Schlierenzauer (3) and Goldberger (2) as only Austrians with multiple ski flying World Cup titles. Last season Kraft won a season-high eight individual World Cup events, seven of which in the last 11 events. Kraft has won 12 individual World Cup events in total, finished second on another 12 occasions as well as finishing third on another 12 occasions.
Last season Peter Prevc finished ninth in the overall World Cup standings, winning only one individual event (Sapporo, 11 February). Quite a downfall compared to 2015/16 season, when he won the overall World Cup as well as 15 individual World Cup events, breaking Gregor Schlierenzauer’s single-season record of 13 wins. He also the Four Hills tournament in 2015/16. Prevc can join Primož Peterka (1997 and 1998) on a record two World Cup overall wins by Slovenians. Prevc can win the ski flying World Cup standings for an outright record fourth time. He was victorious in the ski flying World Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2016, before finishing fifth last season. Prevc, Severin Freund (out for season) and Kamil Stoch have all won 22 individual World Cup events. His younger brother, Domen Prevc(18 years old) won his first four individual World Cup events last season and finished sixth in the overall standings, after having the lead early in the season.
Daniel-André Tande can become the fourth Norwegian to win the World Cup overall title, after Vegard Opaas (1987), Espen Bredesen (1994) and Anders Bardal (2012). Last season, he finished third in the World Cup overall as well as the Four Hills tournament.
Reigning Olympic champion in the large and normal hill Kamil Stoch seems to have found his top form again. He finished on the podium in four major events last season, winning the Four Hills tournament, finishing second in the World Cup overall standings, second in the inaugural edition of Raw Air, and third in the World Cup ski flying standings. Stoch failed to finish on the podium in any of these events in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Stoch won the World Cup overall in 2014. He and Adam Malysz (4 times) are the only Polish overall winners. Stoch, Peter Prevc and Severin Freund (out for season) have all won 22 individual World Cup jumps. Next up for them are Simon Ammann and Thomas Morgenstern on 23 in joint-eighth place all-time.
Wisla 2017 – Team Event Betting Preview and Prediction
The World Cup Team event kicks off in Wisla, the first ever time a World Cup Team event will be held in Wisla. There have been five World Cup Team events held in Poland, all in Zakopane, with Slovenia and Germany winning twice and Norway once. The last four seasons, the first World Cup Team event was held in Klingenthal, where Poland won last year, their first ever victory in a Team event.
Norway have won the last two World Cup Team events of last season, the Ski Flying events in Vikersund and Planica in March. They can equal their country record of winning three successive World Cup Team events, set between November 2007 and March 2008. Norway’s last three World Cup Team event wins were Ski Flying events. The last time they won a Team event on a Large Hill was in Kuopio in February 2016. Norway can win the first men’s Team event of the season for the first time since 2007/08, when they won in Ruka.
Poland have won two World Cup Team events, both in Germany as they won in Klingenthal and Willingen last season. Only one of the last 10 Team events at the World Cup have been won by a home nation, as Norway won in Vikersund on 18 March 2017. Poland was the only country last season to finish on the podium in all World Cup Team events. They can become the fourth nation to record at least seven podium finishes in a row in World Cup Team events, after Austria, Finland and Norway.
Austria have won the most World Cup men’s Team events (28). They are followed by Norway (18) and Finland (15). Austria have only won one of the last 17 Team World Cup, in Oslo last March.
Slovenia have not won any of the last eight World Cup Team events, their longest winning drought, after their first victory in Oberstdorf in February 2012. Their last victory dates back to February 2016, when they won in Oslo. Germany have won one of the last 10 World Cup Team events, the event in Zakopane last January. Before this run of 10 world cups, they had won four in a span of seven events.
Prediction: Austria to win
Odds: 5.25 Pinnacle
Prediction: Norway to win
Odds: 7.12
