“Right in the middle of the Riibers of this world.” Combined athlete David Mach is full of enthusiasm after his strong start to the World Cup in Kuusamo with the first top 10 result of his career. In his column for sport.de he explains his success and looks ahead to the next competitions in Lillehammer.
The way back from Kuusamo was long. Via Helsinki, the capital of Finland, back across the Baltic Sea to Germany, where winter has now begun. Snow was our constant companion on the return journey to Oberstdorf; Even if most road users don’t want such conditions right now, we winter sports enthusiasts are very happy when we are surrounded by the “white element”.
Home also greeted us with plenty of snow and strengthened my feeling of happiness, which I was undoubtedly able to carry within me after this weekend and did.
While I was already really happy about being nominated for the World Cup team by our new national coach Eric Frenzel, I took myself to a new level with my first top ten results in the World Cup. Sometimes in your sports career you feel far away from the top, but this time I was in the middle of it and I was able to enjoy that during the competitions. Right in the middle of the Riibers and Lamparters of this world.
But there was no luck and no magic involved, I was simply able to continue the performances that I recently showed in training; Even stage fright didn’t stand in the way of the results, in the last two years I’ve already been able to claim World Cup starts in Kuusamo, everything seemed familiar and that was certainly a good framework for the World Cup start now.
It was a picture-perfect weekend for me. The atmosphere in the team was and is great. The accommodation was comfortable and the competition was designed to my liking. The start of the World Cup featured three different competitions: Gundersen, the classic, the mass start, which always takes some getting used to for us athletes, and the new format, the “Compact Race”.
Best weather conditions, no Kuusamo weather with unpredictable winds that can ruin your jumping on the jump. Competitions in natural silence, but also in freezing cold.
In jumping I was able to consistently jump over the K-point; in running, depending on the competition format, I acted sometimes more, sometimes less tactically, but always divided my strength well; The result was results that I could not have imagined before in terms of consistency and compactness. A twelfth place in the Compact Race and then actually two top ten results in a row, placements in the extended world elite – Wow!!!
I now have World Cup fever and can hardly wait to get to Lillehammer. I would like to confirm my form and performance level from the weekend. So, refuel and regenerate for two days in the German “Winterwonderland” and then attack again in Norway!
Best regards
David Mach