Saturday, December 18, 2021
“Got fed up”
Cursing Eisenbichler doesn’t stop Geiger
The Four Hills Tournament can come, at least for Karl Geiger. The 28-year-old ski jumper has strong nerves and flies to the top in Engelberg. On the other hand, things are bitter for his friend Markus Eisenbichler, who is really pissed off by his own performance.
Karl Geiger cheered, laughed and waved enthusiastically into the camera: Eleven days before the start of the Four Hills Tournament in his home country, the man from Oberstdorf is in top form. The 28-year-old triumphed on Saturday in the idyllic, snow-covered Engelberg and celebrated his second win of the season. Geiger jumped 137 and 140 meters and relegated the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi and Timi Zajc from Slovenia to the ranks two and three. “I’m very happy about the competition today. That was important to me,” said Geiger, who at the end of a thrilling competition was about 50 centimeters from Kobayashi. “I solved it really well.”
For Geiger it was the fourth place on the podium in an individual competition this winter. The overall World Cup leader expanded his lead at the top of the classification and will definitely wear the coveted yellow jersey at the start of the tour. “This is a new situation. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
“Fed up”
Far worse than for Geiger was for his roommate Markus Eisenbichler, who only finished 27th. After his second jump to 124.5 meters, he angrily slapped his thighs with his hands. In the first attempt, the Bavarian landed after 129.5 meters. “May I be honest? I was fed up,” said Eisenbichler on ZDF. “It annoys me that things are going so badly in the competition.” Eisenbichler added: “I just can’t find my crouch. The hill doesn’t talk to me.” Second best German was Constantin Schmid in twelfth place.
Because of his skills, Eisenbichler is one of the extended favorites with a view to the tour. The greatest German hope is by far his friend Geiger, who has been jumping very consistently and stably so far this season. Correspondingly self-confident he presents himself on and next to the ski jump in Engelberg. “I think I can have the self-confidence”, he said after qualifying and summed up with a look at the winter so far: “The last few weeks have been going really well.”
It went well for Andreas Wellinger last weekend as well. The Olympic champion was sixth in Klingenthal and jumped back to the top of the world for the first time after his cruciate ligament rupture. This time the 26-year-old was unable to reach his potential. Wellinger jumped only 116 meters and landed in 43rd place. Third best German behind Geiger and Schmid was Pius Paschke, who was 21st. Stephan Leyhe landed on a shared 27th place with Eisenbichler.