The Four Hills Tournament is a balancing act for Stefan Horngacher. Frustration and joy are close together in the German team – in his last season as national coach that is a challenge.
“Is there snow coming today?”asks Horngacher, looking out the window and furrowing his forehead. Leaves are swirling outside, a few snowflakes have mixed in with the gusts, the flags in front of the German ski jumpers’ hotel not far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen are fluttering in the cold wind. Horngacher pulls out his cell phone, taps on it and finally seems to decide against checking the weather – he holds the phone to his ear and says goodbye after the press conference with a waving gesture: “Thank you. Ciao” and leaves. He and the team continue on to Innsbruck for the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament.
Beforehand, the national coach took stock for almost half an hour – more precisely, interim results. A word as contradictory as the emotions in the German ski jumping team. Finally, Felix Hoffmann, currently fourth in the overall ranking of the tour, and Philipp Raimund, sixth, are two jumpers who not everyone would have expected to be in those positions. “What I like is the stability that the two boys show”praises Horngacher. “They don’t make big mistakes.”
Geiger and Wellinger on a system search
While teammate Pius Paschke is currently working on making fewer mistakes and more steps, the challenge for Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger is greater. Both are looking – for their system, for trust and security. The search is complex and almost impossible to accomplish during the Four Hills Tournament. “There was a training phase before the tour where we tried to work on a lot of different things in a short period of time.”explains Horngacher. “But – that doesn’t happen so quickly.”
This should have become clear to all those who had hoped for an improved tour form of the two veterans at the latest at the competitions in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Wellinger took places 48 and 32. Geiger’s performance was also sobering: in Oberstdorf the qualifying was over, and in the New Year’s competition he didn’t go higher than 33rd.
Frustration and joy in the team
Frustration and joy, they are close together in the team. For Horngacher, in his last season as national coach of the German ski jumpers, this is a challenge. “It’s currently taking a lot of energy and strength. Definitely.”he says and nods almost imperceptibly. “But I have a very good team in the background. And that is also the strength of our team. We all pull together.” This applies to everyone in the German team – from technicians to doctors, everyone is part of the process, he explains.
How difficult this balancing act is, even for the experienced trainer, becomes noticeable – almost tangible – when Horngacher talks about all the topics that are currently on his list. “I don’t just focus on the tour”he reveals. “I have to make sure that my two super jumpers complete the tour well and work towards the podium here. On the other hand, I still have another job to do.” His note seems to be more of a kind of small booklet, because the German team and its to-do’s go far beyond the two “super jumpers” Hoffmann and Raimund.
World Cup and Olympics in sight
“I have to make sure that I bring the other athletes who are at least as good as the two of them into shape.”says Horngacher, who is already eyeing the Ski Flying World Championships in Oberstdorf at the end of January and the Olympic Games in Predazzo in February. Reconnect in just three weeks? That is possible, says Horngacher. This is also why Geiger and Wellinger complete further jumps in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, then travel to Innsbruck and continue to be part of the German touring team. Horngacher also explains and moderates this decision with clarity. “I said very clearly that I wanted to set up the team based on performance.”
The balancing act remains. On this tour – with an eye on the World Cup and the Olympics. “Normally you don’t do so much on the side during a Four Hills Tournament”says the national coach. But there is simply too much for that this season. Given the topic, leaving it out doesn’t seem to be an option and so Horngacher and his team are investing a lot. “We are at least trying everything to move in the right direction”says the coach. “It works well. It takes a lot of energy for the entire team, but there is no other option at the moment.”
No capacity for Prevc
Horngacher wants to master the current many challenges in his last season as national coach of the German ski jumpers. He has neither time nor capacity for other topics – such as the tour leader Domen Prevc. “I have so many things to do at the moment, I can’t take care of Domen or analyze him. He’ll jump down anyway, whether I’m looking or not.”
Horngacher’s thoughts are already in Innsbruck. “Now we hope that we have good weather on Bergisel and that we can ski jump stably.” A look out of the window in Innsbruck – or into the weather app – reveals whether this will work.