Germany’s ski jumper Karl Geiger is making a big statement at the windy home World Cup in Willingen. He will still miss the Olympics.
It was a picture that we no longer knew of the ski jumper Karl Geiger in this damned season. He threw both his fists through the air, seemed really happy, and cheered as he skied into the run-out of the Willingen ski jump. Geiger managed a strong jump of 140.5 meters in the first round of the Ski Jumping World Cup in Hesse.
Karl Geiger, at best 14th this season so far, jumped free and the flight even catapulted him to second place at halftime on Saturday (January 31, 2026). In the end, the 32-year-old finished a strong third as the best German in Slovenian high-flyer Domen Prevc’s next win of the season, his first podium since March 2025. With Felix Hoffmann right behind and Andreas Wellinger, three Germans made it into the top six.
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Such an achievement was unthinkable just weeks ago, and Geiger and Wellinger spent a long time this winter puzzling until they were able to adapt their system to the new suits. The only annoying thing for the DSV team is that Geiger, as the strongest German ski jumper, will now miss the Olympics. The nomination deadline was two weeks ago, so Geiger was missing the norm.
The Allgäu native was happy about his coup in Willingen: “The (jump) was really fun, I had to be really happy about it too”he said in an interview with ZDF after the first round. “These are a few jumps in which you get the feeling of how to glide again.” Prevc, among others, got even more flying, landing at 155 meters in the second round and winning by a large margin.
Geiger and Wellinger benefit somewhat from the wind chaos
It has to be said at this point: Like on Friday evening in the mixed competition, there was a bit of wind chaos in Willingen. Geiger had better conditions in the first round than the rest, but sometimes this kind of coordination is needed in open-air sports.
In addition to Geiger, Wellinger also enjoyed it, who ended up sixth. “It’s finally a reward for the hard work, also for Karl, who lets himself be celebrated”said Wellinger from Upper Bavaria. “It feels extremely good.”
The former two top German jumpers were once again the best Germans for a long time – at least at half time, then Hoffmann jumped even better than Wellinger. In a team in which all jumpers scored points for the first time in a long time. “Brilliant” national coach Stefan Horngacher found the performance.
Hoffmann set to 144.5 meters – Raimund falls back
Hoffmann was particularly impressive again in his second round with a jump to 144.5 meters, which brought him up from sixth to fourth place. “There were two decent jumps again”he said. Philipp Raimund didn’t really find his way into flying on the flying hill and finished the competition in 18th place.
Even more than Raimund, who has been so stable for a long time this season, Pius Paschke is still looking for his form before the Winter Games. In the end he finished 24th. Luca Roth, who secured his World Cup place in the second-class Continental Cup, came 29th.
