Ski jumper thinks Austria’s victory is “strange”
“That’s suspicious”: Skepticism after the start of the tour
Updated 12/31/2024 – 2:31 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Five Austrians dominated in the qualification, but there were still three in the jumping. The Norwegians find this suspicious.
Stefan Kraft, Jan Hörl, Daniel Tschofenig: This trio was on the podium at the start of the Four Hills Tournament. All three athletes are Austrian. As in the qualification, the German neighbor dominated the jumping in Oberstdorf. While the trio was celebrated at home, critical voices came from Norway.
Halvor Egner Granerud, for example, told the domestic TV station NRK: “If I had been Gregor Deschwanden or Pius Paschke, I would probably have been quite suspicious. It is strange and very unusual for a nation to dominate the way it does now.” DSV Adler Paschke leads the overall ranking in the World Cup, the Swiss Deschwanden is fifth. He did not say exactly what Granerud meant. But he wasn’t alone in his suspicions.
Former Olympic ski jumping champion Maren Lundby said on the NRK microphone: “That’s suspicious. They’ve been good all year long and as soon as the Four Hills Tournament is coming up, they’re even better. There must be something there.” But Lundby also left open what she meant. Former jumper Andreas Stjernen said on the TV channel Viaplay: “It can be assumed that their equipment is much better than that of their competitors.”
Daniel Tschofenig, third in Oberstdorf, didn’t elaborate on the comments from Norway, but took them calmly: “You can spy as much as you want. We have nothing to hide.”
The tensions between the Austrians and the Scandinavians are not new. Already after the final competition at the Summer Grand Prix in Klingenthal (Germany), Austria’s national coach said that “spying was taking place.” He continued: “I saw that the controller was surrounded after the jump. Both German and Austrian trainers were there and I don’t think they talked about the weather.”
In any case, one thing is clear: the Norwegians will be watching closely again at the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.