Before the ski jumping premiere in the super team, opinions about the new event in the German team are still divided.
“Interesting, definitely. But I don’t know yet whether I’m so convinced of that,” said Karl Geiger of the “German Press Agency”. “In the big nations, more than two people are very good. I think it’s a bit of a shame if only two are allowed to start,” said the Allgäuer with a view to the competition at the World Cup in Lake Placid this Saturday (11:00 p.m./ Eurosport). Geiger turns 30 on this very day.
In the super team, two athletes from each nation form a team. The competition, which is held in three rounds, is primarily intended to accommodate smaller nations that cannot provide a classic four-person team. “Super-Team is interesting for the spectators. It’s difficult for the athletes because so many are not allowed to jump. That has to establish itself first,” said ski jumper Constantin Schmid.
Eisenbichler more skeptical
“I’m excited, so far I haven’t jumped a super team. It will be a challenge because the processes are different and jagged,” said Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger. His teammate Markus Eisenbichler is a bit more critical: “I’m more of a tradition-conscious person, so I’m skeptical at first. But I’ll take a look, maybe it’s a cool thing,” said the Upper Bavarian.
The women’s duo competition celebrated its world cup premiere in mid-January in Zao, Japan. “It’s not a bad form of competition in itself, but I think the four-man team is a bit cooler,” said Katharina Althaus, who came second at the Olympics. At the premiere, the 26-year-old jumped to third place together with teammate Selina Freitag.
“It’s cool for smaller nations that only have two starters and otherwise can’t get a full team, because they can then show themselves,” said Freitag, who still sees room for improvement with a view to the processes: “It was just a bit stressful in terms of time management. You might have to think a bit more about how you can improve that.”