After the first round Geiger (214 m) and Kobayashi (217 m) were only 1.6 points apart. However, Geiger only lost important meters in difficult conditions in the second round (203 m) and thus also valuable points in the fight for the overall classification – also because after Kobayashi’s second jump (209.5 m) pushed another two athletes between the opponents.
Eisenbichler defies the bad conditions
Markus Eisenbichler was quite satisfied with his competition. After the qualification on Friday, he was still harshly self-critical and indicated a possible withdrawal from the competitions, but he showed himself to be improving again. Although he was unlucky in both rounds, he managed a respectable 205.5 and 199.5 meters. In the final, he received 24 bonus points from wind compensation, more than any other athlete. In the final he was tied with Geiger in ninth place.
Severin Freund showed two stable jumps in what might be his last appearance in Oberstdorf. The 2014 ski flying world champion flew at 215.5 and 209.5 meters. That was enough for 13th place. “I wasn’t far away, but something was missing. The really big breakaway wasn’t there. And overall, as a team, we weren’t too lucky either.”explained Freund after his second jump, considering the changeable conditions.
Schmid improved – Leyhe slips back
With 230.5 meters, Constantin Schmid was the best German in qualifying, but in the competition he was the worst of the DSV quintet. In the first round he jumped almost 40 meters shorter with significantly less wind, but in the final he cracked the prestigious 200 meter mark by half a meter. This allowed him to move up three positions to 24th place.
“In the first I left a lot behind, the second was a bit better again, although not as good as in the qualification”, explained Schmid afterwards. At the end of the season in Planica he wants to attack his personal best again. It is currently at 234 meters.
Stephan Leyhe dropped a few places in the final. After being a spectator on Saturday because he missed qualifying, he easily made it into the second round this time with 207 meters. The 185.5 meters there let him slip down to 26th place.
Prevc in the qualification with a hill record
The qualification before the competition was a mixture of patience, air show and nail-biter. The wind was so changeable that the jumpers between hatches eleven and eighteen were sent off the hill. Domen Prevc showed the best jump in good conditions at the moment. With 242.5 meters he extended the hill record in Oberstdorf by four meters. His Slovenian team colleague also used the hill almost completely and jumped to the old best.
Some top athletes experienced that the changeable conditions could also go in the other direction. After 173.5 meters, Geiger barely made it into the 40-strong competition in 37th place. On the other hand, Andreas Wellinger (167 m) and also the new ski flying world champion and large hill Olympic champion Marius Lindvik from Norway after only 151.5 meters.
Source: rho