Halvor Egner Granerud flies away from everyone in Oberstdorf. After his meteoric rise from kindergarten teacher to ski jumping star and two unsuccessful attempts, the Norwegian is more than ever aiming for the overall tournament victory.
When Halvor Egner Granerud shouted his joy into the Allgäu evening sky, Karl Geiger was amazed as well. “That’s crazy. He’s just jumping on a different level,” the currently best German ski jumper had to admit – rightly so.
With his air show at the start of the tour in Oberstdorf, Granerud towered over all the competition – and is the big favorite for the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday (2 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport).
Whether in test jumps, qualification or competition, the Norwegian was always in front. In the competition on Thursday, his trainer Alexander Stöckl shortened the inrun twice, but Granerud still jumped the best distance twice. “In my opinion, the first jump was the best he has made this season,” said Stöckl in praise of his protégé.
Granerud is already 13 points ahead – the equivalent of seven and a half meters – on second-placed Piotr Zyla. After his meteoric rise two years ago, he could finally win the overall tour at the third attempt.
Granerud goes from being a temporary kindergarten teacher to a ski jumping star
Driven by a completely screwed up season and due to the corona pandemic, Granerud was still working as a kindergarten teacher in 2020. Only a little later, the then 24-year-old made his breakthrough in his sixth World Cup year – and how.
He started the 2020/21 season without a podium finish, before the 69th Four Hills Tournament he won five World Cups in a row. Rarely has the role of favorites been so clearly assigned in the run-up to the tour. But two botched competitions in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen threw Granerud, who had been leading up to that point, out of the race, and he was left with the superior win of the overall World Cup.
After third place in the tour last year, the conditions for an overall victory never seem to have been better than this season. “He’s in full flow,” said DSV trainer Stefan Horngacher, but: “He also picked up the big backpack, which he has to carry with him now.”
Granerud himself remained calm after his spectacular performance. “I feel good, but we are only two out of eight jumps,” said the 26-year-old. Before jumping in Garmisch, where he had to bury his tour hopes last year with eighth place, he himself is “excited to see if I can keep this level”.
Should it actually come to that, the competition will probably not have much more left than the renewed spectator role at the next Norwegian air show.