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Emotional, successful, unique – Markus Eisenbichler. The German ski jumping star speaks in the Sport1 interview about his eventful career, his tearful farewell and the scandal of the Norwegians.
The second place in Planica team jumping was the strong end of a grandiose career by Markus Eisenbichler, which brought up heights, depths and, above all, a lot of emotions.
In an interview with Sport1, Eisenbichler looks back on the highlights of his career and describes his emotional world after the last big flight. The most successful German ski jumper in World Cup history, which celebrates its 34th birthday on April 3, is looking forward to a new phase of life, but also expresses what worries him in German ski jumping and how the Norwegian suit scandal shocked him. In this context, he buttons a legend.
Markus Eisenbichler ended his career with team jumping in Planica
Sport1: Mr. Eisenbichler, her long career ended last weekend. How much did she take the farewell emotionally?
Markus Eisenbichler: Very. It started on Friday when I realized that it would be a bit more emotional than I thought. But I made sure that the focus remains on ski flying. On Saturday, with the whole family and friends, it was very emotional. I couldn’t hold back one or the other tear.
Sport1: In their last competition they finished second with the team. How important was this result for you?
Eisenbichler: That was very, very important. I also told my teammate on Friday that I would like to jump on the podium again. We are all athletes. The other boys immediately said that they are the same. Therefore, the focus was on ski flying, on the fact that we do it properly. It was important to do the job first, then the emotions can come.
Eisenbichler: “A few more beer than I usually tolerate”
Sport1: The weekend was very emotional. There was no eye dry with them, but not for many others. For example, Sven Hannawald shed tears. What does it mean that your farewell moves so many people?
Eisenbichler: It meant something to me that I left a lasting impression with some people. I just enjoyed doing sports. It was always important to me what my family and my friends think about me. I never got too much of what was written in the media about me – I was able to deal well with it. But of course I’m happy when so many people show sympathy and say goodbye to me emotionally.
Sport1: The party afterwards is said to have taken a long time. Can you still remember everything?
Eisenbichler: It didn’t take as long as I thought. At some point I was just flat. We were still eating in the evening and then I noticed that all the pressure drops. Of course I also wanted to look at ski flying the next day. And when I was gone at 5 a.m. until early, I would not be able to get up. I’ve been in the hotel room between zero and one o’clock, nicely slumbered and got up again at 6.15 a.m.
Sport1: This is very early …
Eisenbichler: The head was a bit buzzing, that was clear. There were a few more beer than I normally tolerate. But I said to myself that it doesn’t matter. Then I have to suffer a little.
Eisenbichler: “I’m fine with my resignation”
Sport1: Have you already realized that your active career is over now? Or does it take until it arrives?
Eisenbichler: I think it takes a little longer. I got home on Sunday and went back to the police on Monday and trained personally for myself. I also had to do a few things. I couldn’t even see anything from the weekend because the days were so full. When I am on vacation, when I was a cozy cross -country skiing in Norway, I have time to think about what was and what was coming.
SPORT1: What will you miss the most in your ski jumping retirement?
Eisenbichler: I will miss ski jumping itself, the feeling of being in the air, feeling speed. In addition, the emotions that come out of me with a good and bad jump. And of course the teammates. But I’m fine with my resignation. I will surely need a week or two to arrive properly – but when I have found my new everyday life, I know that it will make me happy.
Sport1: In a kicker interview, they said it was a “liberation” after they announced their resignation. Do you already feel “freer”?
Eisenbichler: Yes! I have to honestly say, yes. If I go to training now, I can train what I like. I can go cross -country skiing, mountain tours, ski tours. I can play football. I can just go and do not need to have a guilty conscience whether it affects my sporty career, whether I overloaded myself or was somehow struck. I am pleased that in my free time I can really do what I want and what I feel like.
“Of course I can also imagine TV expert”
Sport1: You have already announced that you will be preserved for ski jumping and want to pass on your experience to young athletes. Are you making concrete plans? Or do you first enjoy a life outside of competitive sports and let yourself be driven?
Eisenbichler: I definitely don’t want to let myself go, I am not the guy for that. After my vacation I will work with the federal police. But of course I can imagine passing on my experiences. But I am also sure that I have to classify everything first. I have to gain a distance from ski jumping so that I have my head to properly tackle the coaching job. As a trainer, you shouldn’t be too emotional – and not too critical either. And I know how I am in training. And I am currently expecting that from the athletes. And I wouldn’t do the athletes with that, and I wouldn’t do it either. It would certainly be conflicts and that is not the point. The purpose of the matter is to continue and support the athletes, that is my goal.
Sport1: Is an activity as a trainer your primary goal? Or could you also imagine working as a TV expert?
Eisenbichler: Of course, I can also imagine TV expert, this is a very exciting field. But for that I would have to improve my High German a bit and it is very difficult for me. But I think I have been understood well in the interviews. I am generally open to a lot. You can always try something and if you don’t like it, it was worth trying. This also applies to the trainer business. If something is not for me, then I am very self -reflected and admit it. The focus is that I am satisfied and happy.
Sport1: How do you see German ski jumping set up for the future?
Eisenbichler: It’s not easy. Stephan Leyhe and I are gone. Of course we have Wellinger, Paschke, Geiger, Raimund, who are in the top of the world. In the youth area we have a big gap. I also noticed that when I jumped in the Continental Cup. The fact that I am the best overall with very few missions, of course, worries me. But I am sure that the DSV will find a solution. Maybe at some point I can also help that we have good athletes again.
Trainer? “I couldn’t imagine it with the current constellation”
Sport1 : If you take up a coaching, would you be predestined for the young jumpers or for the A squad?
Eisenbichler: I’m honest. With the current constellation, i.e. the athletes who are currently at the top, I could not imagine it. I’m too close to you, I know you too long. You know me for as long, it will be difficult. I would have to be ready, but there is also the counterpart of the athletes. They also want to and have to be ready to give me instructions and tips. I noticed it with myself, with other trainers who used to jump with me. It took me time to take them seriously as a coach. I would like to work in the youth area first and create a basis. It is simply exciting in this area, you can still shape the jumpers. They also look at me with different eyes because I’m just an athlete who jumped in the World Cup. With the current top athletes, I traveled through world history and they know my mistakes and strengths and when I give you tips where you know that I have not implemented them well, then it will be difficult.
Sport1: If you look back on your career, what was your biggest highlight?
Eisenbichler: It is difficult to choose something. The World Cup in Seefeld was bombastic, the first World Cup victory in Planica, of course also the Olympic Medal 2022. But actually my whole career. When I started ski jumping as a boy, I never dreamed that I could get so good. I only did the sport because it was so much fun for me. I never thought so far that I can become world champion or celebrate World Cup victories. I’m a bit proud of my whole career – with all ups and downs.
Sport1: Philipp Raimund did not start while ski flying in Planica – keyword fear of heights. Do you know this fear?
Eisenbichler: Of course I know the feeling, especially when skiing in recent years. I always had respect for every ski jump because I was aware that it was a dangerous sport. If you make a mistake, you can break something, tear yourself up and seriously injure yourself. But I don’t have fear of heights. I go climbing, mountaineering – if I were afraid of height, I couldn’t do the sports. I always had respect and awe, but I never had panicked fear.
Eisenbichler: “I was shocked and angry”
Sport1: A formative topic of the past few weeks was the suit scandal around the Norwegian ski jumper. How did you experience the events?
Eisenbichler: This whole scandal is really a hammer. I was shocked and angry. In a quiet minute I thought about which intentions the Norwegians had, why they did it. In the end, they just wanted to bring top performances at their home World Cup, they wanted to win medals. It is of course a prestige event when you have a World Cup. From a sporting point of view, I can understand the desire to show the best performances at the home World Cup. The way you did it is an absolute disaster. In retrospect, they had to bear the consequences and were punished. You have to admit that mistakes are human. I forgave them, for me it is eaten. The case is processed in the FIS committee. But why do former athletes register who have nothing to do with the current fraud?
Sport1: You will certainly alludes to Janne Ahonen, who recently confessed to cheating on his active time. Would you prefer to have kept silent?
Eisenbichler: Yes. I love this sport and really enjoyed doing it. Janne Ahonen also loved him and liked to do it. Why do you have to follow up again and pull the sport into the dirt? Every athlete has already reached the border. But to the limit of the permitted, i.e. within the rules. Every athlete knows that and everyone is fine with it.
Sport1: Does ski jumping have a credibility problem after the scandal?
Eisenbichler: I don’t think so. In other sports, it is also tricked, for example in Formula 1. There it is part of the fact that one or the other time had less in the tank or another fender. Every now and then I get that someone was disqualified. It is different with ski jumping, there you have a body that changes from day to day. The body is not a rigid thing, just like the suit. The suit is made of foam, is stretched and changes. If you have a suit that is one or two centimeters too big, so you don’t jump on. Of course you go to the border, but in the end ski jumping is in the foreground. The one that jumps best usually wins. The fact that the Norwegians sewed into a rigid band in the suit was manipulation because the suits were really cut open.
Sport1: Do the rules around the suits have too large gray area?
Eisenbichler: One or two centimeters, that doesn’t matter that much. But such manipulations change the whole jump suit. There is a rule that clearly describes that you shouldn’t do that. Generally spoken: The shape we had, with scanning and measuring by a controller, was ok for me. We had a good control system, but nobody expects such a fraud. I would not have got such an idea.
“On my birthday my mom gets a kiss”
Sport1: So you say that within a tolerance of one to two centimeters are changes and adjustments to the suit, as long as it does not become fraudulent as in the case of the Norwegians?
Eisenbichler: Yes, for me it would be fine because it is stretchy material and the body is not always the same. It can be quick that from one day the suit is one centimeter too large. Then you discuss this with the controller and sew it for the next day or between the passages.
Sport1: You have your birthday on April 3rd today. How do you celebrate this special day?
Eisenbichler: I look forward to the federal police’s annual celebration every year, where all athletes are honored. This date will be found exactly my birthday this year. But I’m more of a guy who likes to celebrate his birthday comfortably, go out to eat with friends and talk. One thing is particularly important for me: on my birthday my mom gets a kiss because she gave birth to me.
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