The German ski jumpers experienced an extremely bitter Four Hills Tournament: With Karl Geiger and Markus Eisenbichler, both top jumpers fell far short of expectations. Martin Schmitt, world champion and Olympic champion, is still optimistic about the future – and doesn’t want to even start a discussion about national coach Stefan Horngacher.
“You can count yourself lucky in Germany to have such a competent coach as Stefan Horngacher,” said Martin Schmitt in an interview ntv.de clear. “The entire coaching team is very, very well positioned: Bernhard Metzler has been with us for many years and has already done a great job in the B squad, the two of them work extremely well together.”
Schmitt also emphasized the work of Michael Dolezal, with whom the national coach had previously been successful in Poland: “There is a lot of know-how and you shouldn’t question this team under any circumstances.”
World Cup in Planica? Schmitt hopes for a medal
After the disappointing performance of the German ski jumpers at the Four Hills Tournament, the 44-year-old Schmitt is now relying on the “analysis” of Horngacher and his assistants, “they can give the individual athlete very good help on how to get back on track”.
Nevertheless, the process is “not easy”, according to the former world-class jumper. Because: “You’re under pressure during the season and it’s difficult to fix things during the current season.” So far, Karl Geiger and Co. have only won one World Cup this season.
Meanwhile, with a view to the World Cup, Schmitt hopes “that the team will use the next few weeks to find its way back to its old strength and to work on what you can actually do”. As an additional hurdle at the World Championships in Slovenia (February 21 to March 5), the hill in Planica is probably not tailored to the DSV-Adler. “When things are going well, you jump well on all hills, but these are not exactly tailored to our team. It will be a very, very difficult task,” said Schmitt.
The 2002 Olympic champion remains optimistic that coaches and athletes will work “with all determination” to get back to the actual level of performance. “And as I know the team, they will come one step closer to the top of the world. And then at least one medal should jump out.”