“Don’t burden yourself with problems”
Teammate Geiger is behind Wellinger’s success
January 3, 2024, 9:48 a.m
Andreas Wellinger is still the leader in the Four Hills Tournament. But the qualification for jumping in Innsbruck is anything but promising. But his teammate Karl Geiger brushes off the skepticism. And it also takes away the relevance of his own problems.
Karl Geiger also sees an opportunity in the weaker qualification of Four Hills Tournament hopeful Andreas Wellinger in Innsbruck. “Who knows, maybe that’s a chance. Let the wind change it a bit as the competition progresses. Then those at the back will have a harder time and those in the middle phase might have a better time,” said Geiger.
Tour leader Wellinger only finished 15th in the qualifying and therefore jumped in the first round (1.30 p.m./ZDF, Eurosport and in the ntv.de live ticker) significantly earlier than his main competitor Ryoyu Kobayashi from Japan. Wellinger has to play in eleven pairs in the first round; his progression is of course mandatory against the Italian Andrea Campregher.
However, he is already the last German in the order, and due to the poor qualification of all Germans, his teammates even jump ahead of him. With Stephan Leyhe against Philipp Raimund there is even a German-German duel for a place in the second round.
“Let’s do his own thing”
“Of course it’s not nice if you’re placed differently now. But you shouldn’t overestimate a day like today,” said Geiger, referring to Wellinger’s qualifications. “It was incredibly windy today and Andi certainly had a worse time today. You really have to stay grounded and really try to classify the jump itself. I know he jumps very well and he can build on that. “
Unlike Wellinger, things are not going as planned for Geiger at the peak of the season. In the overall tour standings, the Oberstdorfer, who started as one of the favorites, is only in 14th place. But he doesn’t want to get tips from Wellinger. “I don’t want to burden Andi with my problems now,” said Geiger. “He should let his thing run and see that he can bring the thing home.”
Silent Kobayashi a “pleasant fellow”
Kobayashi, the biggest competitor, is only 1.8 points behind Wellinger in the overall standings after two competitions. The Japanese is known for his monosyllabic nature, but the German praised him: “He’s a very calm and pleasant guy. You can have fun with him, even if it’s just non-verbal. And he’s a damn good ski jumper.” His lead is only about one meter. “Nobody asked me before, but I definitely had him at the top of the favorites list because he has developed very well in the last few weeks. He has already won a lot, so he knows what he has to do,” said Wellinger about the two-time tour winner.
Kobayashi caused a laugh at the press conference after jumping in Oberstdorf when he was asked about his relationship with Wellinger. Kobayashi was asked whether he had ever gone for coffee with the German, for example. His short answer: “I don’t drink coffee.”
For Wellinger, this monosyllable is the expression of a mentality. “He doesn’t talk too much with me now either. The Japanese mentality is a little different. I have the impression that he doesn’t want to talk that much because he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing, because neither his German nor his English is perfect. That’s why he makes it short and sweet in Japanese.”