The DSV “Eagles” celebrated an individual and a team medal at a windy ski flying world championship on the Kulm. The “Myth of Kulm” is now over for the Germans.
The German national coach Stefan Horngacher was optimistic about the chances of his DSV athletes before the Ski Flying World Championships in Kulm. “We hope that we can defeat the Kulm myth here”he hoped in the sports show conversation.
Looking at the results in the individual and team competitions, Horngacher was right. “We can be very, very satisfied. Andi’s form was very good“, said the national coach after the first three days of competition. Andreas Wellinger flew to the silver medal in three rounds, behind the Austrian Stefan Kraft. Due to the strong winds on Saturday (January 27th, 2024) and the lack of escape lights on the Kulm, the fourth round could not take place.
Wind lottery on the Kulm
Constantly changing weather conditions with strong gusts of wind made the first days of competition a lottery. While no jumpers flew down the jump on Thursday (January 25, 2024), the first and second rounds could take place the day after. The decision in the individual competition had to be made in three instead of four decisions. The wind lottery and sometimes difficult and different conditions for the athletes made it difficult for the jumpers to assess their performance.
Light and shadow in the individual competition
“It’s no fun with all that tailwind. If the hatches keep changing, it’s difficult to judge the jump.” said Pius Paschke after his 23rd place on Saturday. “I just hope that in the end it stays fair for the people for whom it’s important.” It remained fair for Andreas Wellinger and his final jump of 229 meters helped him to the podium. “I’m really happy that it turned out this way”said the 28-year-old medalist. Karl Geiger (19th place) and Stephan Leyhe (10th place) completed the German performance in the individual competition.
Andreas Wellinger is happy about his second place at the awards ceremony for the Ski Flying World Championships.
First German individual medal since 1975
The first decision of the World Championships resulted in the first German individual medal at the Kulm since 1975. In the 49 years in between, the DSV Eagles always missed the podium. GDR jumper Rainer Schmidt achieved the greatest individual success at the first World Championships in Bad Mitterndorf, also with silver. After Schmidt, Andreas Wellinger is now joining the history books.
Tenth edition of team flying
Since the 2004 World Cup in Planica, Czech Republic, team flying has taken place at the end of the World Cup. The German team has been successful five times in the new editions so far. The DSV “Eagles” with Pius Paschke, Karl Geiger, Stephan Leyhe and Andreas Wellinger wrote their own chapter in this success story on Sunday (January 28, 2024) at the Kulm.
Bronze in the team
Behind the strong Slovenes (gold) and Austria (silver), the German team won the bronze medal. “Our team performed well”said Andreas Wellinger, who achieved the longest jump of the German team with 229 meters. “It could have been more. But it could also have been less. Especially when it comes to ski flying, you can’t afford to make any mistakes.”said Wellinger at the sports show microphone after his second World Cup medal at the Kulm.
National coach draws positive conclusions
National coach Stefan Horngacher also felt great relief after Andreas Wellinger’s silver medal in the individual competition and team bronze. The 54-year-old had a positive assessment of the Ski Flying World Championships on Kulm.
“The fact that we are leaving here with two medals in ski flying, after the entire team wasn’t that strong beforehand, makes us want to go to Willingen.”said Horngacher. With these two medals at the World Cup, the German team fulfilled the goals they had set for this World Cup and gave the national coach a positive feeling: “We are totally satisfied, we managed to win two medals, so we are coming out of this on a positive note.”