Again after three years it was his Tour. Ryoya Kobayashi has clearly dominated the prestigious jumping series and will be a hot favorite on the bridges in Beijing. At the age of twenty-five, he had done enough, even though he hadn’t given everything to jumping before. And in February, he will finally want to succeed at a big event outside the World Cup, especially when the career of another Japanese hero is probably coming to an end.
The native of Hachimantai celebrated his triumph on the Four Bridges Tour on Thursday for the second time in his career. Although this time the race was only on three bridges, as the race from Innsbruck was moved to Bischofshofen due to the wind.
Kobayashi won in Oberstdorf, on New Year’s Eve in Ga-Pa and also in the third, translated race. He found the winner only in the final part, but even the fifth place was comfortably enough for him to win overall.
He was the first Japanese to dominate the Four Bridges Tour for the second time and expanded the group of multiple champions to thirteen members.
With the first eight places from the individual races, it even ranks fifth in the historical place behind Björn Wirkola and Jens Weissflog with ten wins and under Janne Ahonen with Gregor Schlierenzauer, who collected individual primates from Tour Nine.
“I’m really happy for the Golden Eagle,” Kobayashi told a television interview with the help of a translator with a beautiful trophy in his hand. Still, one thing could make him sad.
If he succeeded in Thursday’s race, he would become the first jumper to dominate the Tour without losing a flower for the second time in his career. Once so far, only Svena Hannawald has succeeded twenty years ago, Kobayashi in 2019 and most recently Kamil Stoch two years ago.
However, Kobayashi has a bigger goal in the current season. Of course, it is the February Olympic Games in China. “The reality is that if you don’t win the Olympics, no one in Japan will pay you too much attention,” the jumper said earlier.
He now feels that success under five circles could set off a new jumping boom in the land of the rising sun. Since Kazujoshi Funaki’s triumph on the big bridge at the Nagano Home Games almost a quarter of a century ago, the Japanese have been waiting for another Olympic champion among the jumpers.
“The future of the Japanese leaps depends on how the Olympics fare. I am in a position to think about winning. I want to win,” Kobayashi said confidently in December.
He has already won 32 races in the World Cup, and in the 2018/19 season he also dominated the overall standings of the series, but he has not been very successful in selling his form at the top events. Kobayashi’s only senior medal outside the World Championships is bronze from the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, in addition to the team race.
“In Pyongyang 2018, I was in top form, but just as I was miles away from racing,” Kobayashi said of the Korean Games. At that time he finished seventh and tenth in the individual races.
However, it is not just the leaps that make Kobayashi alive. His passionate hobbies are fast cars and fashion. He likes to spend time with designers, stylists or people who are close to cars.
“Having fun with celebrities from other fields fills me, it opens up other worlds for me. I broaden my horizons and I think it helps me be more effective in my own jumping activities,” said the 25-year-old casual DJ.
“I’ve been in the world of jumps since I was five,” the Japanese added. He found his way to the bridge thanks to his older brother Junshir, who has one World Cup win in his collection. Ryoju’s older sister Juka and younger brother Tatsunao also do jumps.
However, there were times when Kobayashi’s leisure interests distracted him too much. This was previously claimed by his former Finnish coach Janne Väätäinen. “He became a better jumper when he understood the need to do more than just drive a Porsche,” he said.
“He enjoyed life, he walked with such a restrained smile on his face. I pushed him more and more to train more diligently,” said Fin, whose words did fall on fertile ground.
At the Olympics, Kobayashi can take over the national jumping scepter from his longtime role model Noriaki Kasai. As expected, the 49-year-old legend is missing from the Japanese nomination. Kasai hasn’t jumped in the World Cup in two years, and his magnificent career seems to be coming to an end.
Kobayashi can now become a new idol of Japanese fans and children.
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