Kobayashi jumps into new year with second Four Hills win

Ryoyu Kobayashi continued to show his potential for Olympic ski jumping glory with a second leg victory in the Four Hills Tournament in Germany on New Year's Day.

The 25-year-old claimed his fifth World Cup win this season with a biggest jump of 143m to earn him 291.2 points, beating Markus Eisenbichler by just 0.2 points.

Japan's Kobayashi had already won the first leg of Four Hills in Oberstdorf on Wednesday, claiming a whopping total of 302 points, with his biggest jump being measured at 141m.

The opening round in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday saw Kobayashi better his first leg effort, recording a giant 143m jump, while Germany's Eisenbichler measured 141m, and Norway jumping star Marius Lindvik battled into the top three with 138m.

It was the second round where Eisenbichler tested Kobayashi's nerve, jumping a massive 143.5m, but the Japanese star's measurement of 135.5m proved to be enough to beat the German by 0.2 points.

Slovenian 22-year-old Lovro Kos beat Lindvik to the podium, measuring a second-round jump of 138m to give him 286 points to the Norwegian's 283.7 to make his first World Cup top-three finish.

Kobayashi said: "Today it was a really hard competition so I really liked it.

"My first jump was a big jump and the second one was good too."

With the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in sight, Kobayashi looks on frightening form, with the New Year's Day win allowing him to overtake Karl Geiger in the World Cup standings on 696 points - 21 ahead of the German. Sportsbeat 2022