The German ski jumpers have returned to the “Raw Air” tour with two top ten places. Andreas Wellinger in fourth place and Philipp Raimund in sixth place were responsible for the upward trend on Tuesday (March 12, 2024) after weaker results in Oslo. However, the competition on the normal hill was sobering for Karl Geiger and Constantin Schmid.
In an exciting competition on the small 2025 World Championships hill, the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi prevailed with a narrow lead (0.9 points) over the Slovenian Peter Prevc and the Austrian Jan Hörl. Kobayashi showed an appealing performance with jumps of 106.0 and 99.0 meters and showed comeback qualities after missing the final in the first competition in Oslo.
In the “Raw Air” ranking, Stefan Kraft was able to further extend his lead thanks to fifth place. He is in the lead with 1050.2 points and is now 20.1 points ahead of Johann Andre Forfang, who only came tenth this time. Jan Hörl is 23 points behind in third place.
Wellinger is only 1.4 points short of a podium finish
The DSV Eagles were also able to come up with comeback qualities. Above all, Andreas Wellinger, with jumps of 101.5 and 99.5 meters, and Philipp Raimund, who cracked the 100-meter mark twice and clenched his fists, especially after his first strong jump, held the German flag high. Wellinger lost his third place in the final to Hörl. Fourth place is just as impressive as Philipp Raimund’s sixth place.
Inken Pallas, Sportschau, March 12, 2024 6:56 p.m
Wellinger: “A step forward”
“Overall, I’m definitely satisfied because the step from training to competition was good. The jumps were good and we want to build on that tomorrow.”said Wellinger on ZDF. Philipp Raimund took a very similar line: “Today was definitely a step forward after Oslo. With sixth place, I already have a good feeling for next year (World Cup 2025 in Trondheim, editor) fetched in case I was there.”
Raimund: “I’ll save it for the World Cup”
Raimund said about the newly built normal hill in Norway’s third largest city: “So far it feels unspectacular. The small jump has a very harmonious radius.” And with a wink he assessed his performance: “It was stable and good. There’s still potential there, but I’ll save that for the World Cup.”
There is a clear upward trend for the German jumpers, even if not everything worked yet. After all: Pius Paschke in 17th place and Stephan Leyhe in 23rd place also showed a solid performance. Leyhe, who barely qualified for the second round in 29th place, improved from 96.0 meters in the first round to 99.0 meters in the final and thus gained six places.
Geiger and Schmid miss the final round
This time it wasn’t enough for Karl Geiger (96.0) and Constantin Schmid (Oberaudorf/94.5) to make it to the final. Geiger actually didn’t show a bad jump very early in the competition. Compared to his competitors, who also landed at 96 meters, he had slightly better conditions and therefore fewer bonus points, which cost him his place in the final as he came 36th in the first round. So his suffering continues.
Schmid showed a completely unsuccessful jump. So far, the 24-year-old had reached all finals on the “Raw Air” tour. But this time he made several mistakes that the small jump didn’t forgive.
What is the Raw Air Tour?
This tour has existed since the 2016/17 season and shortly before the season finale in Planica, the athletes determine their best at three different sized facilities (Oslo, Trondheim and Vikersund). The ski jumpers have to complete 16 jumps in ten days and in addition to the evaluation rounds, the qualifications are also taken into account. In addition to World Cup points, the winner will receive 40,000 euros at the end. In 2023, Halvor Egner Granerud won the tour series.
| Start time | Competition men | Competition women | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
08.03. | Individual men, qualification HS 134 | Individual women, qualification HS 134 | Oslo |
09.03. | Individual men HS 134 | Individual women HS 134 | Oslo |
10.03. | Individual men HS 134 | Individual women HS 134 | Oslo |
12.03. | Individual men HS 105 | 11 a.m.: Individual women, qualification HS 105 6 p.m.: Individual women HS 105 | Trondheim |
13.03. | 4 p.m.: Individual men HS 138 | 11 a.m.: Individual women, qualification HS 138 6:00 p.m.: Women’s Individual HS 138 | Trondheim |
03/15 | 4.30 p.m.: Individual men’s qualification HS 240 | Vikersund | |
16.03. | 4 p.m.: Individual men HS 240 | 10 a.m.: Individual women’s HS 240 | Vikersund |
March 17th | 3.30 p.m.: Individual men HS 240 | 10 a.m.: Individual women’s HS 240 | Vikersund |