Simon Ammann qualifies for the Olympics

Three Swiss among the top 14 at the start of the 70th Four Hills Tournament – the trio Gregor Deschwanden, Simon Ammann and Killian Peier exceeded all expectations as a team. And yet an athlete with wet eyes crept out of the finish area.

Like a prayer wheel, Killian Peier had repeated in the weeks of his miraculous comeback after a cruciate ligament rupture that the season was a learning process for him; he did not officially set a result for the tour. Still, he wanted a lot, probably too much. The rehabilitation and preparation for the season went without a setback, in the World Cup he immediately settled in the top 10, most recently in Engelberg he was fourth twice. There seemed to be only one direction.

And now, at the first highlight of the season, the first setback. Peier was fourteenth and his mood matched the ghostly ambience perfectly. Rain pelted from the first to the last jumper in the wide, deserted area of ​​the Schattenbergschanze. Like last year, the Four Hills Tournament takes place without a spectator due to the pandemic, not even cardboard figures were presented as fake viewers this time. “I wanted to ski too well, so there was no flow in the flight,” said Peier, “I didn’t feel free.” In the first round, only two jumpers were slower to approach. This can be an indication that Peier was not relaxed on the ski, that he was cramped.

The Romand spoke of a setback that he now had to deal with. The national coach Ronny Hornschuh tried to provide first aid. Finishing fourteenth with two not good jumps speaks for a solid foundation. Peier was 41.8 points behind on the Four Hills Tournament podium, and from now on it’s less about the overall standings than about a podium in one of the three remaining competitions. The next chance comes on January 1st in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Peier has fond memories of this hill insofar as he made some very strong jumps there in autumn 2020 before the cruciate ligament rupture.

Three meters across from the struggling Peier, who no longer understands the world of ski jumping, Simon Ammann sat in the ski jumping area, both on a wooden bench with sheepskin. It was a strange picture, one would have thought that the two did not know each other. They packed up their things, Ammann at some point with cheers, he already knew at that moment that he would finish jumping in the top 20, with which he had qualified for the Olympic Games. Then he got up, went to Peier, hugged him, even put a smile on his face.

Ammann will therefore contest his seventh Olympic Games in Beijing at the age of 40 in February, making him the sole Swiss record Olympic athlete and overtaking the former dressage rider Christine Stückelberger. He kept his word. After the shock in Engelberg, when he failed in the qualification in the second jump, he said that the Olympic qualification was not an issue for him. “I will do it.” Ammann stayed calm, it is probably the old hand’s calm, because the start of the season was not easy. A torn ligament in his foot slowed him down in the summer, he climbed into his presumably last winter with fewer jumps than ever.

The best Swiss was Gregor Deschwanden. He finished tenth and has never entered the tour as well as he did. He said: “At last I have jumped over my shadow.” On Tuesday he hadn’t found his way around the hill, it really annoyed him. On Wednesday, the trial jump did not succeed as hoped, but in the first round: the liberation. A forced Corona break just at the beginning of the season had hit the Lucerne man. He’s never been as good in pre-season preparation as this year, and he wondered what details could be improved. After the Corona break, he had the feeling that he had to start all over again.

Kamil Stoch got it far worse than Killian Peier, the Polish title holder and three-time tour winner missed the final (41st). With Ryoyu Kobayashi, the Japanese top favorite prevailed over the two Norwegians Halvor Granerud and Robert Johansson.