Zhangjiakou (dpa) – Silver winner Katharina Althaus and her head coach Maximilian Mechler do not feel at a great disadvantage after the controversial end of Zhangjiakou’s Olympic singles.
“We don’t see ourselves as cheated. That’s just the way it is in sport. Good and bad luck are part of it. It wasn’t good yesterday,” said national coach Mechler at a press conference for the German team in Zhangjiakou. Althaus had lost first place after the half-time lead, gold went to Ursa Bogataj from Slovenia instead.
ARD expert Sven Hannawald then criticized the decision of race director Miran Tepes to let Althaus jump in bad conditions in the second round. The 25-year-old could not share this criticism. “It’s just part of the sport. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re unlucky. I’m still glad I had the jumps to win the medal,” said Althaus. Germany’s best ski jumper is challenged again on Monday in the mixed team. Mechler left it open which second woman would be allowed to start next to Althaus.