interview
Ski jumper Pius Paschke talks about the Nordic Ski World Championship in Trondheim in winter sports podcast, his turbulent season and his plan to come back to top shape.
Sports show: The Nordic Ski World Cup in Trondheim begins. How do you look at this major event?
Pius Paschke: I’m really looking forward to it. We did a cool course there last summer, got to know the ski jump in winter. I had a lot of fun there. That’s why I’m really looking forward to the ski jump and the mood. I think there are already a few competitions sold out. And yes, then you will see how things are going up there.
Sports show: What does a ski jump have to have so that it is fun for her?
Pius Paschke: It is difficult to explain. Most of the time they enjoy where you jump well. I did very well with the ski jump in Trondheim, especially with the big ones, very well in summer. It is a modern ski jump, but cool from the profile. The flight curve is a little flatter. It is also a bit susceptible to wind, but this is generally the case with the new ski jumps.
It is difficult to say what exactly it is. I usually enjoy older ski jumps, but that’s one of the new ones that I find pretty cool.
Sports show: What have you done for the competitions? Do you drive with doubts after the latest results?
Pius Paschke: We don’t go as a big favorite. That is clear. But there is nothing to doubt, if you doubt, you have already lost on arrival. Basically, it is the case with a World Cup: whether you are now fourth or eighth or 23. Is relatively irrelevant in the end. In the end it is about a medal. So we can jump relatively freely if you are not exactly a medal favorite now.
Paschke: “Was in the flow at the beginning of this winter”
Sports show: They started the season great, celebrated victories and were overall world -cuppieces. Did you feel that you would make such a jump?
Pius Paschke: I would say that I noticed in autumn that I had a lot of jumps at a high level. I have developed the areas in which I have planned. I didn’t think that it is enough at the beginning of winter.
You never know how the others jump. In winter I also had a good start, I finished second in Ruka. But Stefan Kraft jumped out outstandingly. These are things, you don’t know beforehand. At the beginning of this winter I was in a flow, knew exactly what to do. That comes with the good competition jumps.
Pius Paschke cheers about his victory in Wisla
Sports show: What set screws did you turn to? Did the family help you? Working with your mental coach?
Pius Paschke: At a young age my sport was omnipresent. It is already different with children because attention is shifting at home. I have often difficult to switch off. This is now much easier because I have the compensation through the family.
The topic with sports psychological support – I’ve been doing this for 10 years now, always with the same person. That was a constant process, has also developed. I’ve just gotten a little better over the years.
Sports show: How was the sudden hype for you, was that a difficult change?
Pius Paschke: It was unusual, but okay. Especially in the phase in which it went well, it was not so difficult for me to accept it that way. I think I managed to focus on the important things.
But if it becomes more difficult, the media is of course more difficult. That is certainly one more a challenge that is added. The years earlier I jumped for myself, the attention has been limited. It was a little more relaxed.
“Thought that I got it better under control”
Sports show: What was more surprising for you: the start of the season or that it became more difficult afterwards to build on the good performance?
Pius Paschke: Both a bit. I wouldn’t have thought that I would start like this. I didn’t find the tour to be so bad. I certainly didn’t jump in this flow anymore, the more the Austrians did. They really performed every jump at the highest level. Then it was difficult to keep up.
I would have thought in that time that I have better under control, I have to honestly say. That it no longer happens to me that my performance drops in January. The longer the winter takes, the more strenuous it becomes a few areas for me. I have not yet found out how I best maintain it over four months.
Thoughtful: Pius Paschke
Sports show: Do you have a specific plan on how you can pull yourself out of this phase?
Pius Paschke: It is constant work. It is tedious, it is exhausting to work up again. Place the focus correctly is my challenge. I have a clear plan for the World Cup. You will see whether this succeeds.
Sports show: Do you tell us the plan?
Pius Paschke: In the end, it is about putting the focus again like the beginning of winter. Technically, I always have difficulty finding my start-up crouch. That hasn’t been that good for the past few weeks. It is difficult, then small problems arise and they get bigger. And then I noticed that attention was not on the important points.
“You have to sit down as a team”
Sports show: How do you observe the situation around coach Stefan Horngacher, who is criticized?
Pius Paschke: In fact, I didn’t notice the discussion, just on the edge. Basically I read little about what is written. For me, the question does not arise either. You generally have to sit down as a team and wonder why it happens, why we didn’t do it throughout the season.
We are still missing a few things in the team so that we can pull through the winter completely. You have to sit down and analyze exactly why. The athletes, including me, have to pack their own nose and first look: What can I really do better? Only then can you somehow have a different discussion.
The entire interview with Pius Paschke with topics such as too much emotionality, unicycle driving and crazy ski jumping actions in training can be found in the complete podcast episode.