Ryōyū Kobayashi

Ryōyū Kobayashi
小林 陵侑
Kobayashi in Wisła (2018)
Country Japan
Born 8 November 1996
Hachimantai, Iwate, Japan
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Ski club Tsuchiya Home Ski Team
Personal best 252 m (827 ft) National record
Planica, 24 March 2019
World Cup career
Seasons 2016–present
Starts 185
Podiums 57
Wins 31
Overall titles 2 (2019, 2022)
Four Hills titles 3 (2019, 2022, 2024)
Ski Flying titles 1 (2019)
Raw Air titles 1 (2019)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Representing Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing Individual NH
Silver medal – second place 2022 Beijing Individual LH
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Planica Individual LH
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Seefeld Team LH
Updated on 21 January 2024.

Ryōyū Kobayashi (小林 陵侑, Kobayashi Ryōyū, born 8 November 1996) is a Japanese ski jumper.

He is one of the greatest ski jumpers of all time, having won 31 World Cup individual competitions, the World Cup overall title twice, Four Hills Tournament three times, and individual olympics gold medalist.

During his victorious 2018–19 World Cup season, Kobayashi scored 13 individual wins and won all six possible titles in a single season: the World Cup overall title, the Ski Flying World Cup overall, the Four Hills Tournament, the Raw Air tournament, the Planica7 tournament, and Willingen Five tournament.

He is the third ski jumper in history to win the 'Grand Slam' of all four events in the 4Hills Tournament, the gold medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing on the normal hill and the silver on the large hill.

With 252 metres (827 ft), the second longest jump in history, he is the current Japanese record holder.

Personal life

He was born on 8 November 1996 in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He began skiing at the age of five but began ski jumping in the first grade inspired by his older brother and Japanese ski jumper Junshiro Kobayashi. He made his first ski jumping steps usually practiced at Tayama Ski Jumping Hill in Hachimantai and Hanawa Jumping Hill in Kazuno, Akita. In 2015, he joined Japanese ski jumping team Tsuchiya Home Ski Team. Short after end of 2022/2023 season, he announced that he left the team after 8 years and he’s planning to create his own club 'Team Roy’.

He has two older siblings, Junshirō Kobayashi and Yūka Kobayashi, and a younger brother, Tatsunao Kobayashi; they all are ski jumpers. He attended Morioka Central High School, graduating in 2015.

On his own Youtube channel he shares vlogs from competitions, private life, free time and training.

Career

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kobayashi competed in the men's normal hill, placing 7th, as well as the men's large hill, placing 10th. He has also competed in the team event with teammates Taku Takeuchi, Noriaki Kasai, and Daiki Ito, finishing in 6th place.

Kobayashi won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in the men's normal hill event. He became the third Japanese athlete to win a gold medal in the individual ski jumping events at the Olympics, after Kazuyoshi Funaki in the individual large hill event in 1998, and Yukio Kasaya in the individual normal hill event in 1972. He also succeeded in the other one tournament, in the men's large hill, placing 2nd.

Major tournament results

Winter Olympics

Year Place Individual Team
Normal Large Men Mixed
2018 Pyeongchang 7 10 6 N/A
2022 Beijing 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 4

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

Year Place Individual Team
Normal Large Men Mixed
2017 Lahti — — 7 —
2019 Seefeld 14 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5
2021 Oberstdorf 12 34 4 5
2023 Planica 30 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 5

FIS Ski Flying World Championships

Year Place Individual Team
2018 Oberstdorf 16 —
2020 Planica 19 5
2022 Vikersund 13 6

World Cup

Standings

Tayama Jumping Hill in Hachimantai, where he made his first ski jumps
 Season  Overall 4H SF RA W6 T5 P7
2015/16 42 — 38 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2016/17 — 43 — 39 N/A N/A N/A
2017/18 24 22 17 11 — N/A 9
2018/19 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019/20 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A
2020/21 4 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Cnx 7 N/A 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2021/22 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 9 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) N/A N/A 9
2022/23 5 18 8 4 N/A N/A 9
2023/24 3 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A

Individual wins

No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 2018/19 24 November 2018   Ruka Rukatunturi HS142 (night) LH
2 25 November 2018   Ruka Rukatunturi HS142 (night) LH
3 2 December 2018   Nizhny Tagil Tramplin Stork HS134 (night) LH
4 16 December 2018   Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS140 LH
5 30 December 2018   Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 (night) LH
6 1 January 2019   Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze HS142 LH
7 4 January 2019   Innsbruck Bergiselschanze HS130 LH
8 6 January 2019   Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS142 (night) LH
9 12 January 2019   Val di Fiemme Trampolino dal Ben HS135 (night) LH
10 2 February 2019   Oberstdorf Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze HS235 (night) FH
11 17 February 2019   Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze HS145 LH
12 14 March 2019   Trondheim Granåsen HS138 (night) LH
13 24 March 2019   Planica Letalnica bratov Gorišek HS240 FH
14 2019/20 15 December 2019   Klingenthal Vogtland Arena HS140 (night) LH
15 22 December 2019   Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS140 LH
16 29 December 2019   Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 (night) LH
17 2020/21 13 February 2021   Zakopane Wielka Krokiew HS140 LH
18 19 February 2021   Râșnov Trambulina Valea Cărbunării HS97 NH
19 25 March 2021   Planica Letalnica bratov Gorišek HS240 FH
20 2021/22 27 November 2021   Ruka Rukatunturi HS142 (night) LH
21 12 December 2021   Klingenthal Vogtland Arena HS140 (night) LH
22 19 December 2021   Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS140 LH
23 29 December 2021   Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze HS137 (night) LH
24 1 January 2022   Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze HS142 LH
25 5 January 2022   Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze HS142 (night) LH
26 29 January 2022   Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze HS147 LH
27 27 February 2022   Lahti Salpausselkä HS130 (night) LH
28 2022/23 20 January 2023   Sapporo Ōkurayama HS137 (night) LH
29 22 January 2023   Sapporo Ōkurayama HS137 LH
30 26 March 2023   Lahti Salpausselkä HS130 LH
31 2023/24 14 January 2024   Wisła Malinka HS134 (night) LH

Individual starts (185)

winner (1); second (2); third (3); did not compete (–); failed to qualify (q); disqualified (DQ)
Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Points
2015/16 Klingenthal Lillehammer Lillehammer Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Willingen Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Trondheim Vikersund Vikersund Vikersund Lahti Lahti Kuopio Almaty Almaty Wisła Titisee-Neustadt Planica Planica Planica 55
– – – – – – – – – – – – 7 20 36 – – – – – – – – – – 44 – 23 –
2016/17 Kuusamo Kuusamo Klingenthal Lillehammer Lillehammer Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Wisła Wisła Zakopane Willingen Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Sapporo Sapporo Pyeongchang Pyeongchang Oslo Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 0
33 36 q q 41 q q 46 45 q 42 34 q 34 44 37 38 46 q 48 43 39 44 q 34 –
2017/18 Wisła Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Titisee-Neustadt Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Tauplitz Zakopane Willingen Willingen Lahti Oslo Lillehammer Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 187
26 q – – 49 q DQ 12 29 31 20 28 16 – – 6 19 19 13 22 13 15
2018/19 Wisła Kuusamo Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Val di Fiemme Val di Fiemme Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Lahti Willingen Willingen Oslo Lillehammer Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 2085
3 1 1 3 1 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 7 5 3 14 1 9 2 3 1 5 3 1 2 2 1
2019/20 Wisła Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Klingenthal Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Val di Fiemme Val di Fiemme Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Willingen Tauplitz Tauplitz Râșnov Râșnov Lahti Lahti Lillehammer Lillehammer 1178
4 6 6 3 1 4 1 1 4 14 7 26 25 3 2 7 15 3 9 9 2 – – 14 7 9 4
2020/21 Wisła Ruka Ruka Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Zakopane Lahti Willingen Willingen Klingenthal Klingenthal Szczyrk Szczyrk Râșnov Planica Planica Planica 919
27 38 15 12 15 13 16 14 7 7 14 10 7 6 9 7 14 11 13 1 9 1 1 2 2
2021/22 Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Ruka Ruka Wisła Klingenthal Klingenthal Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bischofshofen Bischofshofen Bischofshofen Zakopane Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Willingen Willingen Lahti Lahti Lillehammer Oslo Oslo Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Planica Planica 1621
2 q 1 q – 7 1 2 1 1 1 1 5 4 4 5 4 1 4 7 1 2 6 7 10 6 5 8
2022/23 Wisła Wisła Kuusamo Kuusamo Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Sapporo Tauplitz Tauplitz Willingen Willingen Lake Placid Lake Placid Râșnov Oslo Oslo Lillehammer Lillehammer Vikersund Vikersund Lahti Planica Planica 1065
7 30 31 23 10 12 10 31 15 19 32 17 – 1 3 1 14 13 6 2 2 5 – 6 14 8 5 4 12 1 12 8
2023/24 Kuusamo Kuusamo Lillehammer Lillehammer Klingenthal Klingenthal Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Wisła Zakopane Willingen Willingen Lake Placid Lake Placid Sapporo Sapporo Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Lahti Oslo Oslo Trondheim Trondheim Vikersund Vikersund Planica Planica 736
6 13 12 5 3 7 12 10 2 2 2 2 1 5