Prominent failures, hill record, rain and a lot of trouble for the German ski jumpers: home jumping in Willingen on Saturday (February 3, 2024) offered all kinds of explosive material.
The Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang provided fireworks of a positive kind. After his qualifying victory on Friday, he followed up in the constant rain in Hesse at the World Cup in Willingen: With a hill record (155.5 meters) in the second round, Forfang won ahead of Ryoyu Kobayashi from Japan and his compatriot Kristoffer Erik Sundal.
No German in the top ten
The German ski jumpers delivered their weakest performance of the entire winter at their home game in Willingen. Not one DSV eagle made it into the top ten. Andreas Wellinger also made a mistake: The most stable DSV Adler even had an eye on the podium after seventh place at halftime, but fell with 125.5 meters in the final and even ended up behind Stephan Leyhe, who was the 15th best German. “I could have ski jumped much better today”said Wellinger self-critically.
Karl Geiger, Philipp Raimund and Felix Hofmann were eliminated in the first round and missed the final of the top 30. In addition to Wellinger and Leyhe, Pius Paschke, who came 29th, also cleared this hurdle. National coach Stefan Horngacher was correspondingly disappointed: “It didn’t work out the way we expected from the start today. We didn’t jump cleanly enough and then you quickly start to look old.” Horngacher explained that they will build up the boys and look for mistakes.
Kraft doesn’t make it to the final
With 17th place, Wellinger also missed a great opportunity to make up a lot of ground in the overall standings, as World Cup leader Stefan Kraft came away completely empty-handed. The Austrian was eliminated in the first round for the first time this season with 122 meters and reacted calmly in the “Sportschau”: “It goes quickly in ski jumping. I didn’t feel anything that was holding me up. Then sometimes things go quickly in ski jumping. I have to swallow that today.”
Ski jumping party without Geiger, Raimund and Hoffmann
The thousands of fans in ski jumping-crazy Willingen also had to digest the early exit of three German eagles. Geiger (127 meters), Raimund (125 meters) and Hoffmann (127 meters) said goodbye after the first round. Geiger – double winner in Klingenthal – hasn’t been able to do anything for weeks. The misery of the weaker jumps continued in front of the home fans. A meager 127 meters was only enough for 33rd place and not for the final of the top 30. “I’m really annoyed. I didn’t plan to be eliminated like that”said Geiger contritely. It was closer for Raimund, who was eliminated in 31st place, tied with the American Casey Larson.
Leyhe and Paschke mediocre
Paschke and local hero Leyhe were able to enjoy the atmosphere in the sold-out Willingen twice, but neither of them were happy about their performances. In good conditions, Leyhe only jumped to 131 meters in the first round, which was only enough for midfield – from 19th place, he didn’t really make any significant progress in the final with 135.5 meters (15th place). “It’s okay, but of course you always want more,” said Leyhe, putting the high-profile failures into perspective: “Overall, I’m satisfied.”
Paschke muddled his way into the second round in 24th place with 130 meters, where he fell back significantly again with 127.5 meters. In the final results it was only enough for 29th place. “I don’t find the looseness and I’m relatively flat in the air. The overall package isn’t right”said Paschke in the “Sportschau”.