Normal Hill, Individual, Men

Defending Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan was the only 2022 medalist to return to Milano-Cortina in 2026, but he had been a bigger contender in the large hill over the past four years. Norway’s Marius Lindvik, the defending Olympic large hill champion, was the reigning normal hill World Champion, while Domen Prevc of Slovenia was leading the 2025-26 World Cup list. A dark horse was Poland’s Kamil Stoch, the 2014 Olympic Champion.

In the end, none of these competitors reached the podium, with Stoch failing to even qualify for the finals. Lindvik had the farthest jump in official training – 105.5 metres – and won the trial round, but Germany’s Philipp Raimund, who had never reached a World Championship podium, was posting excellent results. In the first round, Raimund had the fourth-longest jump, but his style points edged him to the top of the pack.

A jump of 106.5 metres in the second round assured Raimund a medal, and in the end no one could catch up to him, earning him the gold. Silver went to Kacper Tomasiak of Poland, who was in his first senior season but would go on to take individual bronze in the large hill and silver in the super team event. Switzerland’s Gregor Deschwanden, who had the longest jumps of tournament, and Japan’s Ren Nikaido tied for third, with both receiving a bronze medal. Nikaido would go on to capture bronze in the team event, as well as silver in the individual large hill.