The German ski jumpers are getting closer to the top of the world, but went away empty-handed at the end of the home World Cup in the Black Forest. Once again, the Pole Dawid Kubacki was outstanding.
The German ski jumpers get going punctually before the prestigious Four Hills Tournament. At the end of the first World Cup weekend on German soil on Sunday (December 11th, 2022) it wasn’t enough for a podium finish, but at least for a good team result.
Karl Geiger flew to fifth place – and was the best from the DSV team. Markus Eisenbichler also ended up in the top ten in Titisee-Neustadt. National coach Stefan Horngacher summed it up on ZDF: “We made a significant step forward this weekend, but we’re still a long way from being at the top.”
Kubacki wins with a lead of 25 points
Dawid Kubacki grabbed the victory. The World Cup leader from Poland was in a league of his own. After an exceptional jump of 139.5 meters in the first round, he already had a huge lead over his pursuers. A safe jump would have been enough for Kubacki to win in the final, but the Pole let it rip with 143 meters – even though he had the worst wind of all the top jumpers.
The fight for the remaining two places on the podium was like a thriller – and had a big loser: The Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud – second at half-time – fell back with only 132 meters. Anze Lanisek (Slovenia) was second. The Austrian Stefan Kraft improved from fourth to third place.
Geiger tied with Granerud in fifth place
Karl Geiger was also completely satisfied. After his third place on Friday, the man from Oberstdorf also delivered at the end on Sunday. After the first round in eighth place (132 meters), he announced an “attack” on the podium during the break. And Geiger kept his word. With a brilliant jump of 138 meters he put pressure on the competition and pushed past Kamil Stoch (Poland) and Robert Johannson (Norway) to fifth place – equal on points with Granerud. It wasn’t enough for the podium because the top athletes didn’t show any weakness.
Eisenbichler at the front despite a tailwind
Markus Eisenbichler also reported back strongly on Sunday. The Bavarian defied the tailwind in the first round, sailed a strong 128.5 meters and received a whopping eleven bonus points for the wind. This put “Eisei” in tenth place at halftime – and followed that up in the final with 135.5 meters. Eisenbichler also pushed past his teammate Pius Paschke, who was 0.9 points ahead of Eisenbichler after the first round, and finished ninth at the end. Paschke fell back to 13th place. “The placement looks nice, but my jump and my feeling – they don’t go together yet”Eisenbichler said self-critically as usual.
Leyhe wants to work on the flight system
Stephan Leyhe describes himself as a diesel that first has to warm up. The veteran usually needs a little longer to find the system. Once he has it, it goes up step by step. Just like in the Black Forest. The jumps of 132.5 and 133 meters were almost flawless and gave the Willinger a place in the top 15. It could have been a few more points, but in the first round he jammed his skis when landing and just about had a fall avoided. “My jumps are good enough for the top ten, but I still need to work on my flight”said Leyhe after the competition.
Stephan Leyhe jumping in Titisee-Neustadt
Setback for Schmid
After many strong jumps recently, Constantin Schmid blocked a better starting position (22nd place) with a weaker first jump of 128 meters in good conditions and did not convince in the final either. Slightly late at the table, the tailwind also pushed him down. With 126.5 meters, Schmid flew to 21st place.
Wellinger lacks the looseness
Things are anything but easy for Andreas Wellinger, too. As on Friday, the 2018 Olympic champion struggled, but this time he reached the final of the top 30 with 127.5 meters at least as 27th Hour slower than the competition. “We have to get the problem under control”said Wellinger, who finished 27th in the final and was annoyed that the ease he already has in training is lost in the competition.