Philipp Raimund and Felix Hoffmann prevented a disastrous start to the season for the German ski jumpers. Raimund finished sixth in Lillehammer, and Hoffmann achieved the best World Cup result of his career in tenth place.
Daniel Tschofenig, Jan Hörl, and Stefan Kraft secured an Austrian triple victory, as they did at the last Four Hills Tournament. “It’s a bit surprising. We had a harder time in training. We are happy to have the three up front,” ÖSV coach Andreas Widhölzl said in the ARD .
408612bc626fb06d8cb63b71debab286d9f3abb3-ipad.jpg
Hoffmann couldn’t hold onto third place: Raimund satisfied
From the DSV’s point of view, even more was possible, especially for Hoffmann. The 28-year-old was still in third place after 134.5 meters in the first round. However, a weaker second attempt at 120.5 meters prevented a surprise.
“It’s a lot of fun right now. I’ve made a lot of progress in the summer – athletically and in terms of jumping technique,” Hoffmann said in the ARD . He took his not entirely successful jump in the second round in stride, especially since he still celebrated his best World Cup result.
“It was the classic mistake, too late at the table and pushed through. I still managed to fly halfway. It was unfavorable, but ok,” he concluded.
DSV coach Stefan Horngacher made it clear that Hoffmann first had to get used to being in the world’s elite. “Forgive him. It’s the first time he’s sat up there in third place. His heart was beating a little faster than usual. But he’s done really well so far. He has to get used to jumping with the best,” he said about Hoffmann, who became German champion for the first time a few weeks ago.
Raimund, on the other hand, improved from eighth to sixth place in the final and was satisfied. “It feels cool to come in sixth. I still had to bite my teeth in training yesterday, but now I’m very satisfied,” said the 25-year-old, who had already attracted attention in recent months with his overall victory in the Summer Grand Prix.
Ski jumping start: Geiger, Wellinger and Paschke fail
The actual team leaders of recent years, Karl Geiger, Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke, on the other hand, had a bad day.
While last year’s winner Pius Paschke (51st) and Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger (56th) surprisingly failed in the qualification, Geiger missed the second round in 40th place.
“We already knew in advance that it would be difficult. We saw that Raimund and Hoffmann were much better in training. The conditions were also difficult, so you have to jump a little better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the qualification, but it’s starting now, we’re working on finding the solution and tomorrow is a new day and we’ll try to do better,” Horngacher’s conclusion regarding the seasoned athletes was sobering.
“I lack the self-confidence and the jumps where I notice where I have to go. I was annoyed because the idea was right, but the jump was too late,” Geiger analyzed his performance.
“To put it bluntly, what I’m producing at the moment is for the a***,” Wellinger said clearly in the ARD : “I’m hanging over the corner like a slaughtered bird, there’s no ease in it,” he was frustrated.
“`