The German ski jumpers are looking forward to the new season. After all, winter offers some highlights – especially the Olympics, which are practically on your doorstep.
Here we go again. The ski jumping World Cup season starts this weekend in Lillehammer, Norway. And like every year before the start of the season, this time there is some uncertainty about what to expect from the German ski jumpers. In the summer, Philipp Raimund was able to draw attention to himself by winning the Grand Prix. Andreas Wellinger and last year’s best DSV eagle Pius Paschke also want to jump to the front. “I’m looking forward to the season. These are an intensive four months that lie ahead of us, with many highlights“, Wellinger can hardly wait.
Wellinger before the start of the season: “I can only put pressure on myself”
The man from SC Ruhpolding finished seventh in the overall rankings last year, making him the second best German behind Paschke. The 30-year-old Wellinger has long been one of the team’s veterans. Especially after the resignations of Markus Eisenbichler and Stephan Leyhe.
Wellinger took part in the Olympics in 2014 and won gold with the team. Four years later he also won individual gold in Pyeongchang. From his experience he knows: “The only pressure I can only put on myself. I know the expectations from the outside, but they don’t reflect mine.” That’s what Wellinger said in the BR24Sport interview on the sidelines of the DSV outfit in Nuremberg a few weeks ago.
Last season got off to a promising start with the win in Kuusamo. But it would take until March before the Bavarian jumped back onto the podium. He won silver at the World Championships in Trondheim and was also at the top at the Ski Flying World Cups in Vikersund (first and second place) and in Planica (third place). This winter he wants to build on that: “I know where I stand and that I still have a lot to do before the season.“He’ll”Try to have the right form at the start of the season and then gain the necessary self-confidence“Promises Wellinger.
What can Pius Paschke achieve?
Looking at the past season, the German hopes are of course again on Pius Paschke. At the start of the season, the Kiefersfelden native flew away from everyone with five wins from the first eight competitions and went to the Four Hills Tournament as the best German. But as has often been the case in recent years, he was unable to meet the high expectations. At the Summer Grand Prix in Klingenthal he came sixth. At the start in Lillehammer, Paschke’s worst result was second place.
Grand Prix winner Philipp, known as “Hille”, Raimund gives even more hope. His teammate did “a really good job“Wellinger praises the man from SC Oberstdorf:”He didn’t win the Summer Grand Prix because he was there everywhere, but because he jumped extremely well.“
Horngacher’s last season and a big goal
National coach Stefan Horngacher’s team has become significantly smaller, and it is also the farewell season for the boss. The 56-year-old Austrian will stop as national coach after the Olympics and move to the second row. But at the end he still has big goals: “A big goal is the team title at the Ski Flying World Championships, I would really like to win that, I’m missing that in my collection.“Especially since the World Cup in Oberstdorf is a home World Cup. Horngacher would also be happy about Olympic medals or victory in the Four Hills Tournament, which the DSV Adler have regularly failed for more than 20 years now.
Japan’s Ryuyo Kobayashi and Austria’s Jan Hörl emerged as the toughest competitors this summer. They also had to line up behind Philipp Raimund at the Summer Grand Prix. The new season offers German ski jumping fans some hope again – and the big highlight: the Olympics.