At the end of February, the world championships are coming up for the German ski jumpers, almost three and a half weeks before that, the top of the world is still a long way off. Markus Eisenbichler and Andreas Wellinger ended up in the top ten in ski flying at the Kulm, but they were still beside themselves.
In the flurry of flakes on the huge ski flying facility at the Kulm, frustration and anger once again prevailed among the German jumpers. Markus Eisenbichler and Constantin Schmid complained about the jury at the difficult wind chime in Bad Mitterndorf. Hopeful Andreas Wellinger could not confirm his strong qualification, so the entire team once again jumped behind the world elite around Norway's winner Halvor Egner Granerud. "You feel fooled," Eisenbichler fumed in the direction of the jury, which in his opinion had given too little a start.
Eisenbichler in eighth place (200.5 and 209.5 meters) and Wellinger in ninth place (209 and 206 meters) showed a decent competition, but as so often this season, the podium was very far away. Four Hills Tournament winner Granerud (238 and 231 meters) is still supported by his outstanding form and took over the yellow jersey for the first time with his air show at the Kulm, which the Pole Dawid Kubacki had had since November. For Kubacki, it was only enough for tenth place this time.
This is also the region in which the protégés of Stefan Horngacher, who is missing in Austria, are located. At least before flying, Olympic champion Wellinger had hope that he could go towards the podium. "You need the necessary luck and a jump with enough height, I didn't quite succeed. It looks nice, but it's not effective," Wellinger quarreled. After the poor performance on the tour, things continue to be largely dreary.
It seems unlikely that everything will turn around before the World Cup in Planica, Slovenia (February 21 to March 5). The otherwise relatively level-headed Schmid, who, like Eisenbichler, raged against the jury, also showed how the jumpers were feeling. "I'm pretty angry. It's a bit distorting. It's a cheek when you drive from down there." However, he was not satisfied with his performance either.
Not at the Kulm is top jumper Karl Geiger, who wants to fight his poor form with national coach Horngacher on the home hill in Oberstdorf. The 29-year-old is actually a guarantor of the German team, Geiger has stood for reliability in recent years. "Even though I would have liked to ski-fly, I decided to use this week for training. My goal for the coming weeks is to bring more consistency to my jumps in order to continue the long season at a higher level", reasoned Geiger on Instagram. In Willingen next week he should return.
At the top on Saturday it was again the winner Granerud and the Austrian Stefan Kraft, who didn't give the competition a chance. Slovenia's pilot Domen Prevc took third place. Another individual is on the program in Bad Mitterndorf on Sunday.
