Defending champion Karl Geiger satisfied with his flights
Karl Geiger won the title 20 years later in Planica/Slovenia, so he is the defending champion these days – and after his 221.5 meter jump he can at least go into the individual quite content. “It went really well for me, I was extremely positively surprisedsaid Geiger.I got in really well with the first jump.“Now he just try the “to enjoy flights“.
Markus Eisenbichler, who won bronze in 2020, had some problems. He qualified 13th after a failed landing (215.5/187.2). But “everything in the green“said national coach Stefan Horngacher.
Only five of the 45 qualifying starters had to be sorted out. These were good prerequisites – and that’s why all the other Germans who competed in addition to Geiger and Eisenbichler qualified: Constantin Schmid from Oberaudorf sailed 217 meters (197.1 points), eighth place.
Andreas Wellinger is “really in the mood” for the World Cup singles
Andreas Wellinger was tenth behind him (211.5/190.2). “I’m really into it, it’s incredibly fun“, he said in the sports show. “Even though the qualifying jump was the worst so far: I’m just happy to be there and I’m looking forward to the next few days.“And Severin Freund is also in the individual World Cup after a jump of 206.5 meters (178.0).
Defending champion Geiger said before jumping over the largest facility in the world: “It’s a difficult hill, on which I’ve flown both very well and very badly. But once you get going, there’s hardly a ski jump that’s as much fun as this one.“
World Cup third Halvor Egner Granerud is missing in the individual
However, this fun is denied to some top jumpers: Due to the limitation to four jumpers per nation, a few world-class pilots were already missing in the qualification. Halvor Egner Granerud, who came third in the Ski Jumping World Cup, was unable to assert himself in the strong Norwegian team, and the Slovenians Lovro Kos and Cene Prevc are also absent.
By the way, the only bad news of the day from a German point of view was Stephan Leyhe: He wasn’t allowed to jump either. The German team traveled with six athletes, but at least five are allowed to be there. And that because the defending champion Geiger gets an extra place.
“To start as the defending champion is a great privilege and I’m looking forward to it, even though the situation is new to me“, he said before the event. The jumps on Friday (from 4.30 p.m. in the Sportschau Live Center) and Saturday (from 4.30 p.m. in the Sportschau Live Center) demonstrate. After all, four successful jumps in two days are necessary for a ski flying World Championship success.