Japan made history at the 2026 FIS Ski Flying World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, as Ren Nikaido, Ryoyu Kobayashi, Tomofumi Naito, and Naoki Nakamura claimed gold in the team competition, securing the nation’s first-ever medal in a Ski Flying World Championships team event.
The Japanese quartet finished 9.6 points clear of Austria, while Norway rounded out the podium in third. Host nation Germany finished fourth, matching their result from the last two times the Ski Flying World Championships were held in Oberstdorf (2008 and 2018).
The Japanese team already led the way at the halfway stage, with a 3.9-point advantage over Austria, and further extended their lead in the final round.
Nikaido, who won bronze in the individual event on Saturday, was the final Japanese athlete to leap from the Oberstdorf hill and saved his best until last, achieving a jump of 229m (205.8 points), to seal gold for Japan. His nearest rival, Jan Hoerl (AUT), could only manage 216m and 195.8 points to secure silver for Austria.
Shock for Slovenia
Slovenia’s bid for a third straight team title was ended by a mishap involving the newly crowned individual Ski Flying world champion Domen Prevc (SLO).
The Slovenians were in the medal hunt before Prevc was due to take the hill as their fourth jumper in the first round, when misfortune struck.
Prevc was denied a first-round jump in the team event as the Slovenian star’s skis slid from the stairs on to the in-run during snowfall while Norway’s Marius Lindvik was on the start bar. One of the skis made it all the way into the outrun in Oberstdorf.Â