Austria’s top ski jumper Stefan Kraft will want to forget Thursday’s raw air competition as soon as possible. After a completely screwed up second round, the 29-year-old cursed the wind lottery in Lillehammer. He wasn’t alone in his anger.
“I feel a bit fooled,” Kraft vented his anger on Thursday in the “ORF” interview. Previously, the jumping in Lillehammer had been characterized by chaos in the second round, strong and constantly changing wind made life difficult for the jumpers and the jury.
The main victim was Kraft: The Austrian landed at 113.0 m in the second round and had to lose a lot of feathers in the fight for overall victory in the “Three Hills Tournament”.
“I can go down with the elevator right away. It’s pointless. It’s about so much, then they’ll send you down,” fired Kraft in the direction of the jurors.
A bitter déjà vu for Kraft. “It’s not the first time, it was the same in Garmisch, where the tournament was about,” he referred to the New Year’s competition.
Strength coach: Jury should “take eggs in hand”
Kraft received support from his coach Andreas Widholzl. “It’s just not understandable. It was so turbulent in the second round. I’m not surprised when people at home say in front of the TV: ‘It’s only dependent on the wind anyway'”, the coach let off steam.
Widholzl was stunned by the lack of consideration for his protégé’s health: “The jury also doesn’t have the sensitivity to take their eggs in their hands and say: Safety always comes first, then fairness and then television.”
Anger also prevailed outside the Austrian camp. The Norwegian Marius Lindvik said on “TV2” about the difficult weather conditions: “You have no chance, it’s really annoying.”