The German ski jumpers are just extras at Slovenia’s big air show in Oberstdorf. Pius Paschke in particular continues to cause concern.
Pius Paschke trotted away sadly, Andreas Wellinger complained about “dead flights” – only Karl Geiger waved to his Oberstdorf fans with some satisfaction. The struggling DSV Eagles also fluttered far behind at the Ski Flying World Cup in the Allgäu – and the difficult wind conditions were only partially to blame for that. The former series winner Paschke in particular was a long way from the hoped-for return to ease for the final spurt of the World Cup.
“We cannot be satisfied with the result, it was definitely not enough,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher on “ZDF”. Geiger’s tenth place on Saturday, which he followed with eleventh place on Sunday, remained the top German result. Paschke landed in 21st place on Sunday after 18th place in the first competition.
“Pius hasn’t gotten going at all here,” said Horngacher, “there’s a lot to do.” The main actor in the first weeks of the season was just an extra at the Slovenian air show on the huge Heini-Klopfer ski jump. Wellinger also fell short of his great potential with places 14 and 19 and struggled with a lack of wind support: “That was bittersweet, so it was dead flying.”
However, the Slovenian flight specialists breathed a lot of life into it. Domen Prevc won on Sunday and made a Slovenian dream weekend perfect. The day before, his compatriot Timi Zajc had triumphed, previously this season only Germans or Austrians were in first place – most recently the Austria Eagles won seven times in a row.
Hill record holder Prevc (242.5 m/2022) flew to 226.5 and 231.5 m (436.8 points) for his seventh World Cup victory. The Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang (433.2) came second ahead of the Austrian Michael Hayböck (429.1).
The Austrians, who had won at will throughout the tour, also broke a series: On Saturday, for the first time after 24 individual competitions in a row, no ÖSV eagle was on the podium.
There was also a spicy flavor: ski flying world champion Stefan Kraft was disqualified on Saturday because his suit did not have the necessary air permeability. There had been some discussions about the Austrians’ suits at the Four Hills Tournament. However, they were also checked extensively there.
“There is still a lot to do”
However, the dip in performance and mood among colleagues from Germany is significantly larger. “We have to keep working towards it. There is still a lot to do, but we are sticking with it,” says Horngacher. But there isn’t much opportunity left before the World Cup (February 26th to March 9th).
In the days before the home World Cup next weekend in Willingen, the boss can still tinker with his eagles, then he goes on the grueling “round the world trip” to Lake Placid (USA) and Sapporo (Japan). So Paschke and Co. will fly a lot – but they won’t be able to regain the feeling of flying.