Philipp Raimund jumps onto the podium in Falun and breaks the ski jump record. Andreas Wellinger shows clear improvement, Karl Geiger disappoints.
Ski jumper Philipp Raimund flew onto the podium in Falun, Sweden, with a ski jump record. In the 46th World Cup victory of record-hunter Stefan Kraft (Austria), the 25-year-old celebrated the second-best result of his career as third.
“That’s the ski jump record. Sensational jump,” ARD commentator Tom Bartels rejoiced after Raimund’s jump to 99.5 meters. “Yes, that’s amazing,” expert Sven Hannawald cheered as well.
Philipp Raimund jumped on the normal hill in Falun farther than anyone before
“The smile is tacked on my face. I didn’t even realize it was that far,” Raimund said after his third place. In the second round, the 25-year-old improved the ski jump record set by Severin Freund at the 2015 World Championships by two and a half meters.
“That’s my first ski jump record, and I’m really happy with it,” Raimund said in ARD . In the only seasonal jump from a normal hill, Andreas Wellinger also showed clear improvement as 19th, it was the first points for the two-time Olympic champion.
Ski Jumping: Geiger misses second round
Felix Hoffmann, a strong third two days earlier in Norway, convinced again as eighth and collected points, as did Pius Paschke (18th). Karl Geiger, on the other hand, had a bitter jump, finishing 48th and not even making it into the second round.
Geiger, who, like many athletes, is struggling with the new suits, only reached a distance of 84 meters. “He really doesn’t feel anything. That’s really bitter. It remains a construction site for Karl Geiger,” analyzed ski jumping legend Hannawald.
After the disappointing jump, Geiger himself was very disappointed in the ARD: “It’s really tedious at the moment. I was too early in the jump now. If there is no pressure, then unfortunately what comes out comes out. That’s bitter. I have to tick that off now.”
The goal is now to work even more on the setup: “We are working on all parameters. We know that we can do it. At the moment, it is unfortunately not easy. If the trust is missing in the air, then you start skiing differently and badly.”
Veteran Kraft, meanwhile, celebrated the 46th World Cup victory of his career ahead of Anze Lanisek (Slovenia). In the “eternal” list of best, he now shares second place with the Finn Matti Nykänen, who died in 2019, ahead of the duo is only the Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer (53). With now 15,811 World Cup points, Kraft also broke the career record of the Finn Janne Ahonen (15,758).
Kraft will now take a short break from competition – he and his partner Marisa are expecting their first child in a few days.
For the first time in eleven years, a World Cup took place in Sweden again; on the small Bakken in Falun, there had not been a fight for points since 1996. Curiously: For the first time in the history of the World Cup, no jumper from the host country took part in a competition. In Sweden, which once produced greats like Jan Boklöv and Tore Edman, ski jumping has been on the ground for years.
Another competition will follow on Wednesday (from 3:10 pm in the LIVETICKER), but then on the large hill.
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