The fans are back: at the opening ceremony of the 71st Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf, they cheer for Karl Geiger’s German team. The DSV-Adler want to be inspired by the mood, even if the favorites are different this time.
“Karl” calls can be heard from all sides. No question: Karl Geiger from Oberstdorf is the crowd favorite at the opening ceremony on Tuesday evening. Here one selfie, there an autograph – the seventh overall in the World Cup isn’t really making any headway when walking through the spectators. He makes a longer stop when he discovers little Jakob.
The 7-year-old reconstructed the Schattenberg ski jump in Oberstdorf and brought it to the opening ceremony. The jump made of cardboard is almost as big as the ski jumping fan himself. On the inrun track it says in bold black letters “Karle“.”would you like to give me a signature“, asks Jakob and looks at his idol quite respectfully.
The autograph is of course available and the little fan can hardly believe his luck. At the competition on Thursday, Jakob will be at the hill with his family. Of course he keeps his fingers crossed for Karl Geiger – “and the other Germans“, he adds.
The opening competition in Oberstdorf has been sold out for weeks
In 2020, Geiger won the opening event on his home hill – because of the corona pandemic in front of empty ranks. Of course, nobody from the family snuck in at the time, he says with a mischievous grin at the opening ceremony. Just like his six teammates, he is looking forward to the stadium being full again. Around 16,000 fans are expected to attend the qualification on Wednesday. The jumping on Thursday has been sold out for weeks, over 25,000 fans are expected. “It’s going to be a mega mood, it’s unbeatable”says Geiger.
The German ski jumpers want to be inspired by the atmosphere and are not giving up hope of winning the first German tour after 21 years. The favorites are different this time, like the overall World Cup leader David Kubacki or the Slovenian Anze Lanisek.
National coach Stefan Horngacher still makes a relaxed impression. “I’ve never gone to a tour with such a good team – at the moment we’re only missing one at the front.”he says and adds at the opening ceremony: “But we’ll do that now.” A sentence that makes the fans cheer and hope.