D.he re-strengthened Markus Eisenbichler has reported furiously back with a podium place, but the German Four Hills Tournament dreams seem to end again Japan’s high-flyer Ryoyu Kobayashi. 20 years after Sven Hannawald’s last victory, because of 0.2 points – which is the equivalent of a little more than eleven centimeters – nothing came of the long-awaited ski jumping triumph on New Years. The same fate threatens the overall standings.
Read F + 30 days for free now and get access to all articles on FAZ.NET.
READ F + NOW
The 25-year-old Kobayashi secured the next victory at the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen after attempts at 143 and 135.5 meters in front of Eisenbichler and was thus also ahead of the overall ranking of the traditional event on Saturday. A piece of ski jumping history is possible for Kobayashi on the tour: he could be the first athlete to win all four competitions of a tour twice. He had already achieved this in 2018/19. “Kobayashi is in excellent shape. He’s not making any mistakes at the moment, ”praised Norway’s trainer Alexander Stöckl on ZDF.
While “Eisei” got off to a top start in 2022 with second place, Karl Geiger experienced a disappointment at the 100th anniversary of the New Year’s event. After jumping to 130 and 127.5 meters, the 28-year-old from Oberstdorf took seventh place in spring-like weather and up to ten degrees and thus lost the yellow jersey for the first time this winter.
Disappointed, he waved it away in the run. “If I’ve seen that correctly: Unfortunately, bad conditions again. This is the tour “, Severin Freund commented on the windpower of the colleague. “To be honest, I’m pissed off,” Geiger said disappointedly on ZDF: “Basic mood: pissed off. I haven’t had it so well twice now, but I could have done it better. ”For him it“ sucks ”.
“It was a very difficult situation,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher, describing the first attempt with a brief strong tailwind. At the remaining two stations in Austria, Geiger and Eisenbichler should fight for daily victories again. With the overall victory it will be very difficult if Kobayashi, who missed a few competitions due to a corona break, continues to show such consistent performances. Third of the day was the Slovenian Lovro Kos (135.5 and 138 meters).
Horngacher was happy about Eisenbichler’s strong return. “Markus is slowly picking up speed. He really does great jumps, ”said the Tyrolean. Especially the second attempt at 143.5 meters was great. The botched landing cost the 30-year-old victory in the end. A big party like the one at Hannawald’s back then would probably not have taken place this time, even with a longed-for home win. This time only a few were able to watch, who were sitting on the terrace of a bar at the same time and enjoying the best view.
Behind the two top athletes Geiger and Eisenbichler, the German team also achieved a decent team result for the anniversary. A total of six athletes made it into the second round, Stephan Leyhe presented himself particularly well, who was the third-best German in tenth as at the start. Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger scored the first points on this tour, he made it to 22nd place.
Already halfway through the traditional event, favorites for the golden eagle and 100,000 Swiss francs (approx. 97,000 euros) in prize money said goodbye. Defending champion Kamil Stoch from Poland missed the second round in Oberstdorf and this time too, Austria’s co-favorite Stefan Kraft even missed the qualification on New Year’s Eve. He now wants to get in the mood for the next tour on cross-country skis. The Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud, who was second in Oberstdorf, also lost a lot on New Year’s. Despite a strong second attempt, he did not get past eighth place.
After the second and last day of rest on Sunday, Geiger, Eisenbichler and Co. head to Austria. In the recent past, German touring dreams have often come to an end at the notorious Bergisel in Innsbruck. Head coach Horngacher put a special focus on the difficult hill in Tyrol last summer. On Tuesday (2 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Four Hills Tournament, on ZDF and on Eurosport), the groundbreaking third competition will take place, the day before there will be qualification in the 2019 World Cup stadium.