Germany’s ski jumper Karl Geiger sees no parallels to the starting position at the Four Hills Tournament after his botched first Olympic training session.
“It’s a completely different situation than at the tournament. The hills are completely different. That’s also a month and a half later. It’s new days, a new hill and new happiness,” said the 28-year-old from the Allgäu at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. During the tour, which always begins in Geiger’s home town of Oberstdorf, the German started out as the top favorite and had to deal with a lot of pressure.
Geiger did not want to overestimate the fact that the opening training session in Zhangjiakou failed. “I know the situation. I’ve had it filmed enough times, but it’s a job and it’s not easy,” he said. He does not jump for joy “now”. Geiger finished fourth in the traditional event around the turn of the year. Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi secured the victory. At the first training session of the Winter Games, the violinist, who was the leader in the overall World Cup, only finished 20th, 21st and 22nd after attempts at 95, 96 and 96 meters.
