Ryoyu Kobayashi surpassed Japan Men's Ski Jumping World Cup win record; Bagged his 18th Crown

Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi broke the Japanese record for most men's ski jumping World Cup victories, bagged the 18th career title in Rasnov, Romania, on Friday.

The 24-year-old has overtaken eight-time Olympian Noriaki Kasai's 17 World Cup victories after winning the first and only World Cup on the normal hill this winter, jumps 94 and 98.5 meters with 257.9 points.

Kobayashi's victory in the final individual competition before the world championship comes less than a week after he ended a 14-month drought at the World Cup on 13th February by winning the first win of the season in the Zakopane, Poland.

After his victory, Kobayashi said, "I am satisfied with my jumps today; they were pretty good. I am also happy with the second podium of the season after last week in Zakopane and a very long drought before that. We did not have that many possibilities to train this (past) summer, so I don't have such a good feeling, as in the past years, but I am getting more self-confidence right in time for the world championships in Germany's Oberstdorf."

Poland's Kamil Stoch finished second with jumps of 92.5 and 97.5m with 256.3 points, while Germany's Karl Geiger finished third with jumps of 94.5 and 96.5m.

Japan's Sara Takanashi also won her 3rd Women's Ski Jumping World Cup event of the season and her 60th in her career.

#WinningJump: Ryoyu Kobayashi / #Rasnov#skijumping #FISskijumping pic.twitter.com/td3HzdnmsQ

— FIS Ski Jumping (@FISskijumping) February 19, 2021