At the private air show by Halvor Egner Granerud and Stefan Kraft on the Raw Air Tour in Vikersund, Andreas Wellinger missed out on a place in the top 3 as the best German. While the Norwegian and the Austrian were in a league of their own at the top on Saturday (March 18, 2023), Wellinger slipped down to twelfth place at half-time after third place.
World Cup leader Granerud has taken the next important step in the fight for overall victory at the Raw Air Tour. The local hero fended off the attacks of his pursuer Stefan Kraft (239.5/227.5 meters) with jumps of 235.5 and 222.0 meters and was able to extend his lead by winning the first of two ski flights on the “Monsterbakken” in Vikersund to now 28.5 points.
Wellinger crashes in the second round
Behind them, Andreas Wellinger still had every chance halfway through the competition to place himself on the lowest step of the podium. With his first jump of 233.5 meters, he had put himself in a strong starting position, only Granerud (235.5 meters with three hatches less inrun) and Kraft (239.5 meters with two hatches less inrun) were ahead of him . With only 193.5 meters, he still fell back significantly and also out of the top 10. Third place went to Kraft’s compatriot Daniel Tschofenig (216.5/229.5 meters), who, however, was almost 35 points behind the two first-placed behind.
Wellinger had to settle for twelfth place. “The second jump was just nothing. Of course the conditions were tough, but that’s how it was for everyone“, was his first analysis. Above all, the lack of height in the wind conditions did not allow for a greater distance, despite all the interventions.
Eisenbichler with a solid performance
Frustration did not want to arise with national coach Stefan Horngacher: “It’s a pity for Andi that he made his worst jump here in the last attempt. He would have had a super chance, but unfortunately he didn’t make the jump. But that’s how it is in sports.“Now you want to analyze the jumps thoroughly, every minor mistake on such a large hill can have massive consequences.
Markus Eisenbichler, the second-best jumper of the German Ski Association, also missed a place in the top ten. The 31-year-old showed all his flying skills, especially on his first attempt, and pulled the flight down to 209.5 meters despite some wobbles and little altitude. In the second round he was able to move up one place to 15th with 216 meters.
Former world champion Geiger only jumps mediocrity
In constantly changing conditions with shortened and lengthened inruns, Karl Geiger caught two rather average jumps. In the first run he was half a meter over the 200-meter mark, in his second flight it was over after 192 meters. With that, he finished 21st in the final ranking. “The conditions made it a bit more difficult, but that wasn’t the reason. A good jump always gets you down, but it just doesn’t quite work out“, explained the ski flying world champion of 2020 shortly afterwards at the sports show microphone. On Sunday he now wants “Show flights, not jumps“.
Lisso and Schmid are eliminated in the first round
Only spectators in the final were Justin Lisso and Constantin Schmid. Both actually got away from the take-off well, but then didn’t find their flight position properly and had to land after 175 (Lisso) and 160 meters (Schmid) respectively. That wasn’t enough for a place in the top 30.