Wednesday, December 29, 2021
0.5 points ruin the qualification
Wellinger punishes ski jumping “extremely hard”
Shortly before the Four Hills Tournament, Andreas Wellinger achieved the best result since his serious injury. At the start of the tour in Oberstdorf, however, he missed the final of the best 50. After that, it was “really difficult” for him to say what is so obviously a problem.
That should really hurt Andreas Wellinger. If on Oberstdorfer Schattenberg this Wednesday (4.30 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport) The 70th Four Hills Tournament of ski jumpers begins, the Olympic champion from Pyeongchang 2018 will only watch. After a 108-meter set in difficult wind conditions, Wellinger missed qualifying for the start of the traditional event in 51st place. When asked whether he was 100 percent satisfied, the 26-year-old replied: “I think that’s obvious and clear.” He is just 0.5 points short of rank 50, which would have meant advancement.
After a cruciate ligament rupture and a very difficult winter 2020/21, the Bavarian wants to rehabilitate himself this season. In Klingenthal three weeks ago, the trend seemed to be pointing upwards, a fifth place in the qualification was followed by sixth place in the competition – his best result since the serious knee injury. But then instability came back in. After a mixed dress rehearsal in Engelberg, Switzerland, the disappointing elimination in the qualification for Oberstdorf came.
But why is it? “It’s really hard to say. It’s not a big mistake to see. I lack the ease, I’m a little bit cramped”, Wellinger analyzed in the ski jumping area, where strong winds and heavy rain lashed out. The body works “very well,” said Wellinger. For the former German top athlete, it was already a success to have prevailed in the tough team-internal elimination in November before the start of the season.
“The feeling is sometimes better, sometimes worse. Like this jump, a lot comes together. There ski jumping is extremely hard and punishes small mistakes pretty quickly,” said Wellinger, who has the next chance in qualifying for the New Year’s competition on New Year’s Eve. All of the other six German starters around co-favorite Karl Geiger had qualified for the jumping in the Allgäu without any major problems.