The Olympic ski jump in Predazzo caused a lot of discussion before the start of the Winter Games. DSV ski jumper Felix Hoffmann has no problems with the facility, as he showed in the first official training session on Thursday evening. However, this does not yet apply to the German flag bearer Katharina Schmid.
Ski jumper Felix Hoffmann impressed with strong performances in the first Olympic training on the normal hill. The 28-year-old won one of the three rounds on Thursday evening and took second and third place in the others.
“The three jumps were all at a good level. I can handle the jump quite well,” said Hoffmann. There had been a lot of discussion in advance about the condition of the jump, and there was criticism especially after the dress rehearsal with several serious falls.
Philipp Raimund also showed good form with places three, 15 and six. The two-time Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger, however, only landed in places 20, eleven and 18, while Pius Paschke did not get past places 28, 30 and 27.
High-flyer Domen Prevc missed the first of two training sessions and will only travel to Predazzo on Friday. The second training session takes place on Sunday (7:00 p.m.), followed by the first medal decision for the ski jumpers on Monday (7:00 p.m.). Stefan Kraft from Austria, who won the first round, and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal from Norway, who jumped the furthest in the third, left a good impression.
There is room for improvement for flag bearer Schmid
For the German ski jumpers Katharina Schmid and Selina Freitag there is still room for improvement after the first official training on the Olympic ski jump in Predazzo.
The German Olympic flag bearer Schmid, eighth in the World Cup this season, took 15th, 18th and 19th place in the three runs on Thursday evening. The second medal candidate Friday was also not completely convincing at the start of the ski jumpers. The 2025 vice world champion jumped to places tenth, twelve and eight. Juliane Seyfarth didn’t get past places 38, 33 and 26.
The best DSV jumper was Agnes Reisch, who was closest to the top with fourth, tenth and fifth places. The 26-year-old had previously presented herself in good form at the Olympic dress rehearsal in Willingen, only narrowly missing out on the World Cup podium in fourth place.
Meanwhile, the top favorite from Slovenia Nika Prevc put in a more than convincing performance. The world champion won two of the three rounds, and in the third she came second behind the Austrian Lisa Eder.
Suddenly the standard bearer: ski jumper Schmid didn’t sleep well
The German quartet has two more training sessions on the Olympic ski jump in Predazzo on Friday morning (from 9:00 a.m.) and Sunday afternoon (from 4:30 p.m.). The first decision on the normal hill will be made on Saturday (6:45 p.m.).
Katharina Schmid will also have another big appearance on Friday evening, when part of the opening celebrations will take place in the ski jumping arena. The 29-year-old will carry the German flag there. She received almost 50 percent of the votes from the public and 37 percent of the votes from Team D. The second standard bearer is NHL superstar Leon Draisaitl.
“For now I only have the next training session on my mind, everything else will come then. I can’t do much wrong when waving the flag,” said Schmid, referring to her task on Friday: “But yesterday there was a bit more hustle and bustle than usual and I also slept badly.”
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