Luisa Görlich recently experienced a lot of “ups and downs” in the women’s ski jumping World Cup. In her sport.de column, the 25-year-old struggles with her fluctuations in performance.
What ski jumpers generally hate is instability. Instability in the flight system, instability in the results. Somehow I’m in such a phase right now and the jumping in Japan, five competitions in total in Sapporo and Zao, would be predestined to bring calm into my system and calm into my actions.
I love Japan and the Japanese people. The setting for a stay on the island is the constant friendliness of the people here, even though there are crowds and hectic pace, especially in the cities. I love Japanese cuisine, which we always indulge in as a team when we visit the country’s famous soup kitchens in our free time and eat our way through the menu.
I also love the Japanese ski jumping facilities in Sapporo and Zao – large hills where I can use my ability to fly and glide more than on the normal hills.
In Europe, the World Cup has been up and down recently. While I was able to celebrate 10th place on the Two Nights Tour in Garmisch, I was eliminated in Oberstdorf after the first round, which admittedly cost a few tears, as I had such a great chance of being lower in the overall rankings of this new format To reach the top 15 and receive valuable World Cup points. In Villach I achieved normal placings of 18th and 21st on the normal hill, which I didn’t really like.
We then went to Japan full of anticipation. In contrast to many other nations, we Germans were ahead when it came to baggage transport and received all of our equipment. I also got through the chaos jumping in Sapporo well and was able to reach 15th place. One or two places at the front could have easily been achieved if I had also had a well-swept inrun lane in the second round. However, only the top ten placed in the first round enjoyed this privilege, which meant that an attack on the top placed people was simply impossible .
The second jumping was once again part of my recent experiences. After finishing 32nd in the first round, like Selina Freitag, I was unable to qualify for the final round as 31st.
The suitcases are packed for the onward journey to Zao, where the next three competitions will take place. The ski jump there suits me. My goal now is to jump consistently in Zao and aim for results in the top 15.
With kind regards
Luisa Gorlich