After the Four Hills Tournament, ex-ski jumper and TV expert Martin Schmitt draws a conclusion.
“It certainly didn’t go as planned for the German team,” said Martin Schmitt in an interview RTL/ntv and sport.de (Video loads in image above).
Pius Paschke, who finished in sixth place in the overall standings, started with “great early form”. But the World Cup leader was already struggling at the dress rehearsal in Engelberg.
“He didn’t really find his jump anymore. Unfortunately, things haven’t sorted themselves out since Christmas, but he continues to struggle with the problem,” emphasized Schmitt.
Paschke was “not so clean with the jump movement” and made “small mistakes in the jump”. “He can no longer compensate for that,” said the “Eurosport” expert.
“And then, of course, he feels that the Four Hills Tournament isn’t going to work out. Maybe you’re secretly dreaming of the big hit. And then you might lose a little bit of your coolness and then come out of such a series of competitions even worse than you were actually would be,” Schmitt further analyzed.
The Austrians, on the other hand, went into the Four Hills Tournament more relaxed. “Winning is fun, winning makes you relaxed. That’s why – when you win – you’re naturally more relaxed,” noted the 46-year-old: “But in the run-up to the tour, the Austrians were a bit more relaxed, you had the feeling.”
With tour winner Daniel Tschofenig, Jan Hörl and Stefan Kraft, Austria celebrated a triple victory.
“No big accusations” to the DSV team
The fact that Paschke ended up in sixth place was no problem for Schmitt. “I don’t think you can blame yourself too much in the team now,” he emphasized.
The DSV Eagles finally started the season strongly. “Maybe a few technical errors have crept in. Then you have to analyze afterwards. What was that about? How can we do it better next year?” said the 2002 Olympic champion.
In sport, however, it is normal that “sometimes others are simply better”. “You have to recognize that and you have to work on it yourself so that you can maybe get a little more stability,” said Schmitt, setting out the route.