Things just aren’t going well for Markus Eisenbichler. The former top jumper continues to lag behind in the Conti Cup. National coach Horngacher is harsh on Bayern – criticizing, among other things, training in the summer.
World champion Markus Eisenbichler was unable to do any advertising on his own behalf on the last ski jumping weekend before the Four Hills Tournament: the 32-year-old only finished in the second-class Continental Cup in Ruka, Finland on Friday (December 15, 2023) and Saturday (December 16, 2023). 16 and 26. This means that the Bavarian is still not a candidate for the highlight of the season for ski jumpers.
Horngacher: “Incomprehensible”
In addition to the mediocre results, there was clear criticism from national coach Stefan Horngacher: “It’s incomprehensible to me that he can’t bring anything together.”said Horngacher on the sidelines of the World Cup in Engelberg, Switzerland. “I haven’t spoken to him. He often covers up a lot of things. We need to talk about where the journey is going. Performance counts, that’s just how it is. It doesn’t matter how many medals you have hanging at home.”said the Austrian, looking at the six-time world champion.
DSV national coach Stefan Horngacher is relying on Martin Hamann, who jumps for SG Nickelhütte Aue, for the first two World Cups.
Injuries and training – “It doesn’t have to be”
Horngacher cited injuries in the summer as well as Eisenbichler’s training as reasons for the former German pilot’s crash. The man from Siegsdorf had recently completed training for promotion to the higher police service and successfully completed it in the autumn. “He had a little too many problems in the summer: with his knee, he was constantly injured, also with his training. We also advised him against that, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. He really wanted to go through with it.”Horngacher openly criticizes the double burden on his former top performer.
Starting in the “National Group”?
Eisenbichler’s chances of starting the tour are likely to be extremely slim after his poor performances and the national coach’s open criticism. Even for the so-called “National Group”, in which the German Ski Association is allowed to allow six other athletes to take part in the home competitions in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen alongside the World Cup starters.
Ruka: Four Germans better than Eisenbichler
In both Ruka competitions, four Germans, Luca Roth, Constantin Schmid, Felix Hoffmann and Finn Braun, were better than Eisenbichler. The team Olympic bronze medalist from 2022 was also unable to impress, finishing 14th and 23rd at the Continental Cup in Lillehammer. For the first time since 2012, the Four Hills Tournament is set to start on December 29th without the three-time World Cup winner.
Source: Dirk Hofmeister (with material from dpa)