The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Zakopane event took place from 15 to 17 January 1999 as part of the 1998/1999 World Cup season. Competitions were held on the Wielka Krokiew ski jump, featuring two individual events on the large hill. This marked the fifth time that athletes competed for points in the overall World Cup classification in Zakopane.

In the first competition on the Wielka Krokiew, Stefan Horngacher claimed victory, while Janne Ahonen emerged as the best competitor in the second event.

Janne Ahonen finished in second place in the first competition, and Kazuyoshi Funaki took second in the second competition. Tommy Ingebrigtsen secured third place in the first event, while Stefan Horngacher finished third in the second.

This was the third time in history that two individual competitions on the large hill were held in Zakopane as part of the World Cup, following similar events in 1996 and 1998. In 1980, one competition was organized on the normal hill and one on the large hill, while in 1990, only one event was held on the large hill.

A total of 68 competitors from 14 national teams participated in the event. The oldest participant was Japan's Masahiko Harada, aged 30 years and 251 days, while the youngest was Polish athlete , who was 15 years and 191 days old.The age of the competitor on the day of the competition, i.e., 15 January 1999.

Before the competitions

Before the World Cup ski jumping competitions in Zakopane, 14 individual events had already taken place in the series. The leader of the overall World Cup standings was Janne Ahonen. The Finnish representative had amassed 1.043 points, leading second-place Martin Schmitt by 165 points. In third place was Kazuyoshi Funaki with 761 points. In the Nations Cup standings, the Japanese team led ahead of Germany and Austria.

In the events held before the Zakopane competitions, the following athletes won: six times – Martin Schmitt, four times – Janne Ahonen, twice – Andreas Widhölzl, and once each – Kazuyoshi Funaki and Noriaki Kasai.

From 30 December 1998 to 6 January 1999, the 47th Four Hills Tournament was held. The champion was Janne Ahonen, who achieved overall victory without winning any of the four tournament competitions. The events in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen were won by Martin Schmitt. However, the German representative finished in lower positions in the subsequent events (13th in Innsbruck and 14th in Bischofshofen) and ultimately ranked 4th in the final classification of the 47th Four Hills Tournament. The second and third places in the tournament went to the Japanese competitors Noriaki Kasai and Hideharu Miyahira.

In the last competitions before the World Cup in Zakopane, held in Engelberg (January 9–10), Janne Ahonen and Kazuyoshi Funaki emerged victorious. In the first competition, the Finnish representative outperformed the Japanese competitor and Martin Schmitt and Noriaki Kasai, who were tied for third place. In the second event, the Olympic champion on the large hill from Nagano won ahead of Andreas Widhölzl and Kasai.

The only Polish representative classified in the World Cup was Wojciech Skupień. The jumper from Zakopane had earned 10 points in the overall standings by the time the competitions in Zakopane began, placing him in 49th position. In the Nations Cup, the Polish team ranked thirteenth. The poor performance of the athletes led to the resignation of from his position as coach of the Polish ski jumping team. Piotr Fijas, Mikeska's assistant, was appointed as the acting coach. World Cup standings before the competitions in ZakopanePlaceAthleteCountryPointsGap to leader1.Finland1043–2.Germany8781653.Japan7612824.Japan7023415.Austria5444996.Germany3816627.Norway3746698.Austria3606839.Japan31572810.Japan30573811.Austria29874512.Japan29574813.Austria29474914.France26577815.Germany24080316.Austria21882517.Norway21482918.Norway20783619.Japan20384020.Norway19185221.Germany18186222.Austria17087323.Czech Republic15289124.Finland12292125.Germany11393026.Slovenia11193227.Norway9594827.Germany9594829.Norway7996430.Germany7896531.Japan7297132.Switzerland6897533.Finland6597834.Norway5498935.Germany5399036.Italy5299136.Switzerland5299138.Czech Republic4699738.Slovenia4699740.Czech Republic39100440.Switzerland39100442.Norway26101743.Russia25101844.Russia23102045.Slovenia18102546.France17102647.Sweden13103047.Czech Republic13103049.Poland10103350.Norway9103450.Slovenia9103452.Norway8103552.Finland8103552.Czech Republic8103555.United States7103656.Norway6103757.Slovenia5103858.Switzerland4103958.Finland4103958.Austria4103961.Slovenia3104061.Finland3104063.Germany2104164.Kazakhstan1104264.Finland1104264.Czech Republic1104264.South Korea1104264.Finland1104264.Switzerland11042

Organization of the competitions

The organization of the Ski Jumping World Cup in Zakopane was managed by the Polish and Tatra Ski Association. The international broadcasting and television transmission of the events were handled by Telewizja Poland. The total cost of organizing the competitions was 500.000 PLN.

A significant challenge for the organizers of the World Cup competitions in Zakopane was the thaw that occurred a week before the events. This thaw caused the snow on the already prepared Wielka Krokiew ski jump to melt. To restore the ski jump for competition use, the organizers brought in snow from higher mountain areas. In the final days before the competitions in Zakopane, a drop in temperature allowed the organizers to use snow cannons to prepare the venue.

Before the start of the World Cup competitions in Zakopane, the president of the Polish Ski Association, , promised a bonus of 10.000 PLN for any Polish representative who finished in the top ten of one of the two competitions on the Wielka Krokiew.

Competition program The first official training session was scheduled for 15 January 1999, and the last competition was the second cup event held two days later. A total of two individual competitions, as well as two qualifying rounds, two official training sessions, and a trial series were planned.

The table below presents a detailed schedule of the jump series planned for the Zakopane 1999 World Cup. DateTimeTimes are given in local time.Event15 January 199911:00 AMOfficial training on the K-116 jump (2 series)1:00 PMQualifying round before the individual competitions on the K-116 jump16 January 199912:00 PMTrial series before the individual competitions on the K-116 jump1:00 PMStart of the first competition series of the individual competitions on the K-116 jump, followed by the second competition series17 January 199911:00 AMQualifying round before the individual competitions on the K-116 jump1:00 PMStart of the first competition series of the individual competitions on the K-116 jump, followed by the second competition series

Ski jump

The 1999 Zakopane World Cup ski jumping competitions were held at Wielka Krokiew, a ski jump named after skier Stanisław Marusarz, located on the northern slope of mountain in the Western Tatras. Two individual competitions were held on this hill. Previously, the World Cup had been held at Wielka Krokiew four times, in 1980, 1990, 1996, and 1998. Name of ski jumpLocationK-PointJury pointRecordThe table shows the hill records valid before the start of the World Cup competitions.Wielka KrokiewZakopane, PolandK-116128 m130.0 mThe unofficial hill record was 130.5 m, held by Aleksander Bojda. He achieved this result at the National Youth Olympics in 1996.Primož Peterka27 January 1996

Jury The competition director, representing the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, was , assisted by Miran Tepeš. The competition manager representing the organizers of the Zakopane World Cup was from Poland. The technical delegate for all events was Paul Ganzenhuber from Austria, with Bertil Palsrud from Norway as his assistant.

The table below shows the judging positions for each judge in the various rounds. JudgeCountryJudging tower positionQualifications for first individual competition (15/16 January 1999)First individual competition (16 January 1999)Qualifications for second individual competition (17 January 1999)Second individual competition (17 January 1999)Janež FrelihSloveniaAABBAndreas LangerGermanyBBAANils LivlandNorwayDDCCJerzy PilchPolandEEDDStanislav SlavikCzech RepublicCCEE

Competition overview

Training rounds and qualifications for the first individual event (15 January 1999)

The first training round before the World Cup events in Zakopane was interrupted by the competition jury due to excessively strong winds. The remaining rounds were not held. The qualification round planned for Friday was rescheduled to take place on competition day.

Training round and qualifications for the first individual event (16 January 1999)

According to FIS regulations, at least one training round must be held before qualifications or the competition itself. Since no scheduled rounds were completed the day before, the organizers decided to conduct training before qualifications. The longest jump in the training round was made by Robert Mateja, who landed at 110 meters.

The qualifications concluded with Janne Ahonen in first place. The World Cup leader jumped 119.5 meters. Kazuyoshi Funaki landed three and a half meters closer and, despite high scores from the judges, finished 0.8 points behind Ahonen. Dieter Thoma from Germany placed third with a 118-meter jump. The best jumper among those competing for a spot in the first competition round was Hiroya Saitō. The Japanese athlete placed 7th with a jump of 111 meters.

Andreas Goldberger (69 m) and Sven Hannawald (61.5 m) made very short jumps in the qualification round, placing 64th and 67th, respectively. They qualified for the competition only by virtue of their standings within the top fifteen in the overall World Cup rankings.

A total of 68 athletes from 14 countries participated in the qualifications.

First individual competition (16 January 1999)

The first individual competition of the World Cup ski jumping event in Zakopane 1999 began with a jump from Polish representative , who achieved a distance of 94.5 meters. This placed him in first position until the jump of the seventh competitor, Robert Mateja, who landed 13.5 meters farther and became the new leader of the competition. Adam Małysz, starting with number ten, jumped 103 meters and positioned himself just behind Mateja. Following Małysz, other competitors, including Takanobu Okabe and Primož Peterka, landed at 96.5 and 97 meters, respectively. During the first round, there was a tailwind that hindered achieving good distances.

Mateja remained in first place until the jump of the 32nd competitor, Tommy Ingebrigtsen, who achieved 115 meters and became the new leader of the competition. The Norwayn gained a 12.6-point advantage over the previous leader. Kristian Brenden managed a jump of 96 meters, which was too short for the previous year's World Cup winner in Zakopane to advance to the second round. Emmanuel Chedal, starting with number 38, landed at 111.5 meters and was just behind Ingebrigtsen. Andreas Goldberger opened the last ten jumps of the first round with a landing at 103 meters. Hideharu Miyahira and Masahiko Harada, who followed him, achieved distances of 110 and 107.5 meters, respectively, placing them among the leaders of the event. Stefan Horngacher surpassed Ingebrigtsen with a jump of 118.5 meters, becoming the new leader. Ingebrigtsen was not overtaken by Morten Ågheim (106.5 meters), Sven Hannawald (106.5 meters), Andreas Widhölzl (115 meters), Noriaki Kasai (107 meters), Kazuyoshi Funaki (109.5 meters), and Janne Ahonen, who led the World Cup standings with a jump of 108.5 meters.

After the first round, Stefan Horngacher held first place, followed by Andreas Widhölzl, Tommy Ingebrigtsen, Nicolas Dessum, and Hideharu Miyahira. The highest-ranked Polish athlete was Robert Mateja in ninth place.