Zhangjiakou (dpa) – Karl Geiger cheered as if relieved of a burden. By winning the Olympic bronze medal on the large hill at the Beijing Winter Games, the 29-year-old made his peace with the Zhangjiakou facility.
It was “more like a mountain” that fell off him, said Geiger on ZDF. “It was an incredibly tough week for me personally,” he continued. “That was a pretty big number. I wouldn’t have believed that I could still do it. It worked out. Really cool.”
As the leader of the World Cup Total Score, he had traveled to China and was accordingly treated as a favourite. But he struggled with the normal hill right from the start and was only 15th in the individual. Then in the mixed team the next low blow with the early exit after disqualification because Katharina Althaus did not wear the right suit. And he also had to slowly approach the large hill. “He got better day by day,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher. “He then just brought out his competitive strength and did things – and thank God he won the bronze medal.”
Flights at the highest level
When it came down to it, things went almost perfectly for Geiger. He was not discouraged by the temperatures well below freezing or by the negative experiences of the past few days. He showed flights at the highest level and twice jumped 138 meters. Only the Norwegian Marius Lindvik and the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi were better than the German.
The most important pillars of Geiger on the way out of the depression were the team and his wife Franziska. “I was pretty struggling and not in a good mood,” he said. He got “an incredible amount of support”. “I’m incredibly grateful.”
Before the final team competition on Monday, he wasn’t the only one to gain self-confidence. He also took some pressure off the team. His buddy Markus Eisenbichler also impressed with fifth place. Constantin Schmid was 14th, Pius Paschke 28th.
“Hard days behind us”
“It’s like a salvation for the whole team,” Horngacher said of the result. “We’ve had really difficult days. Today was a very important competition for us – whether we can pull ourselves together or not. With the medal it’s clear that we definitely got it.”
A complete Olympic fiasco without a medal for the jumpers is no longer a threat. The last time that happened was in Turin in 2006. After that, the eagles of the German Ski Association (DSV) always got at least one podium place. At the past winter games in Pyeongchang, the German ski jumpers even won three strong medals. Andreas Wellinger won gold on the normal hill and silver on the large hill. There was also silver in the team.