OSLO -- Ryoyu Kobayashi became the first Japanese male to claim the overall World Cup title in ski jumping after finishing fifth Sunday in an individual large hill event in Oslo.
Kobayashi, 22, scored 250.1 points over his two jumps to place fifth in the 23rd meet of the season won by Norway's Robert Johansson, which was good enough to wrap up the season title with five events remaining on the schedule.
The closest a Japanese male jumper previously came to winning the overall title came in the 1997-1998 season, when 1998 Nagano Olympic gold medalist Kazuyoshi Funaki finished in second place. Sara Takanashi has captured four women's overall titles.
On Sunday, Kobayashi sailed 127 meters on the first jump to put him in fourth place, but dropped to fifth after a second attempt of 126 meters.
However, Poland's Kamil Stoch, who entered the day in second place and as the only jumper with a mathematical chance of overtaking Kobayashi, could only manage a 13th-place finish, thus ending the title race.
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