Karl Geiger achieved his best World Cup result this season in Sapporo. But that probably comes too late for participation in the Olympic Games. The best DSV eagle of the German mini team in Japan was once again Philipp Raimund.
Karl Geiger has never been so good in what was a very difficult winter for him. Germany’s former model jumper took 14th place at the second World Cup on the 1972 Olympic ski jump in Sapporo. The 32-year-old thus met half of the internal Olympic standard of the German Ski Association (DSV) at the last minute. But that probably comes too late for a nomination for the season highlight in Italy.
Geiger jumped twice to 128 meters in the Far East and was able to confirm the impressions of the previous day. There, too, he was on course for top 15 after a decent first jump, but his nerves gave out on the second jump and the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist fell back to 27th place.
Raimund in the top 10 after Prevc victory
Philipp Raimund was once again the strongest jumper from the only four-man German team. He achieved distances of 128.5 and 134.5 meters and came ninth. As on Saturday, Domen Prevc secured victory. The World Cup leader won the ninth competition this season, narrowly beating local hero Ryoyu Kobayashi. Third place went to Daniel Tschofenig from Austria.
The competition was disappointing from the perspective of the other two German starters, Luca Roth and Ben Bayer. Neither made it to the second round and came 46th and 47th. Felix Hoffmann was not there in Japan. The sixth-placed player on the tour decided not to travel to Japan after having problems with his knee. Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke also train on home soil. All three had already met the German qualification criteria (top 8 once or top 15 twice).
Olympics even without Kasai
Similar to Geiger, ski jumping veteran Noriaki Kasai’s dream of the Olympic Games has shattered. The 53-year-old did not make it into the competition as 56th in qualifying and will most likely miss his ninth Olympic start.
