According to the results of the last competitions, Katharina Althaus is one of the big favorites for a medal at the World Championships. However, she doesn’t want to put too much pressure on herself.
Despite the recent strong results with six victories this winter and the resulting increased demands, Katharina Althaus does not feel any great external pressure. The ski jumper from Oberstdorf has often proven her class outside of the World Cup. In individual competitions, she has two Olympic silver medals and second place at the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld in her biography, only an individual gold medal at a major event is missing.
She refuses to be tempted to say that this will finally change in Planica when she takes part in the World Cup for the sixth time, and with good reason: “I put the pressure on myself when I set my expectations too high. At the moment it is more of a privilege to be among the best jumpers and to be one of the favorites at the World Championships. That feels really good“, explained the 26-year-old after the first training jumps on the normal hill, which gave her a good feeling for the hill.
With knitting needle and guitar to inner peace
From Thursday (from 5 p.m. in the live ticker) the first jump decision of the Nordic World Ski Championships will take place in the border triangle of Slovenia, Italy and Austria. In training and qualifying (second place), Althaus indicated that she was to be expected again. The women’s national coach Maximilian Mechler also sees his top athlete “in very good condition“The fun of ski jumping, without the constant view of the world’s best, ultimately helped her to achieve these good results again, Althaus recently revealed in the podcast Ski happens with Vincent Geiger.
But a World Cup is different: “Then it tingles again“, so Althaus, who hopes for it “jumping in front of a big crowd with lots of fans.” In order not to be disturbed before the competition, Althaus has a mix of different activities. “I like to knit, play a little guitar or listen to music. Depending on what I’m feeling.“
Friday ready for a medal?
In addition to the team leader, three other DSV athletes made it into the competition. Selina Freitag, Anna Rupprecht and Luisa Görlich are represented in the 40-strong starting field. The Saxon Friday also has outsider chances for a medal. She made it onto the podium in the World Cup for the first time this season, but jumping will be her World Championship premiere on Thursday.
First of all, she focuses on her jumps, the trappings leave her cold at the moment. “Maybe the World Cup feeling will come, right now it’s still neutral. It’s fun, but not different than usual“, says Freitag, who is supported in the competition by her family and her brother Richard. Nevertheless, she is flirting with precious metals a bit: “If I make my jumps fluffy, then I can make it onto the podium.“But everything has to fit:”The others don’t sleep either.” She would also be satisfied with a top ten placement.
Althaus: “Have fun and show perfect jumps”
Her brother “Richie”, who ended his career almost a year ago, knows the feeling of wearing a World Cup medal. He cleared the entire set with the team and the mixed team – most recently in 2019 in Innsbruck. And the chances for the German women in the team are also very good. Althaus knows that too, and in the end she still let herself be carried away with a little announcement: “I want to have fun in every single competition. I know that if things go well and I can do my perfect jumps, then I can come home with a medal.“She doesn’t care what color it is.