Johannes Rydzek about his “belly splash”

Combined fell as a start runner

German ski star about “belly splash” at World Cup

First came the moment of terror, then the triumph. The German combiner Johannes Rydzek experienced ups and downs in the World Cup team competition.

Johannes Rydzek wanted to quickly around the curve, slipped out with his ski and then landed on his stomach. The German combiner quickly gathered after his fall in the World Cup team competition, got up again and in the end was able to cheer with his three teammates.

After the World Cup triumph of the German team in Trondheim, the Oberstdorfer said with a wink: “I did a belly slap à la Bonne Heure. I have to go to alpine training again in our ski club.”

Rydzek, as the starting runner of the German team, fell shortly before the end of his round. Instead of the tour, the veteran handed over to the World Cup debutant Wendelin Thannheimer with a gap of 13 seconds.

The German therefore said: “I would have liked to have had it differently. But nobody is immune to it in the deep run, unfortunately I got stuck.” The 33-year-old confessed to the situation himself: “Then you lie there and still have to keep a cool head, get up and be careful as soon as possible that you are not right again. Fortunately, it was not far because the adrenaline and the lactate were shot in.”

Despite the deficit, the German team succeeded at the end. Julian Schmid shortened the distance to Austria, and the final runner Vinzenz Geiger finally brought the success to the finish.