The Slovenians dominated the qualification for the home ski flying World Cup in Planica on Thursday (March 24th, 2022). Anze Lanisek (233 meters) won ahead of Timi Zajc (235.5 meters). Third was the Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang (225.5 meters). As the best German, Constantin Schmid came in twelfth with 230 meters.
Seven jumpers over 230 meters – Schmid: “extremely happy”
The Planica song sounded for Schmid as well as for six other jumpers who cracked the 230 meter mark. And that’s not the only reason why the man from Oberaudorf was beaming: “I’m extremely happy. I got a good feeling right from the first training jump. I’ve improved that now. I’m satisfied with the qualification and can start the competition with peace of mind.”said the 22-year-old and laughed: “It’s fun on days like this.”
Geiger lands behind Kobayashi
Karl Geiger, on the other hand, was not entirely satisfied. The ski flying world champion of 2021 has not yet been able to present himself in the duel for the overall World Cup victory in ski jumping against the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi. In qualifying, the man from Oberstdorf flew 17th with 219 meters. World Cup leader Kobayashi was eleventh with 224 meters. However, the qualification has not yet had any effect on Geiger’s 66-point deficit in the overall standings, since no points are awarded here.
violinist: “Otherwise it’s nice”
“I had a lot of fun in Planica again. I like it here. The qualifying jump wasn’t ideal yet, but otherwise it’s nice.”said Geiger after his jump and added: “I’m not upset about anything anymore, I’m enjoying the last few days.”
German quintet
In addition to Schmid and Geiger, the jumping of the top 40 on Friday also included Markus Eisenbichler (218.5 meters), Andreas Wellinger (221.5 meters) and Severin Freund (207 meters) as 18th, 30th and 34th. This makes a quintet by national coach Stefan Horngacher in the competition, which starts on Friday at 2 p.m.
Leyhe misses Friday’s competition
Stephan Leyhe, on the other hand, is not there. As 41st with 204.5 meters he missed Friday’s competition by 2.1 points.
Quali pushed back from morning
The qualification, which was actually planned for Thursday morning, had to be postponed to the afternoon because there had been problems with the inrun track at temperatures of more than 15 degrees Celsius. The water film that formed on the ice track due to the high temperatures became a danger for the jumpers – which is why the qualification was pushed back.