Things are going well for ski jumper Stefan Kraft this season. He has already celebrated five victories and is at the top of the World Cup. But that doesn’t mean that everything always works out right away for the 30-year-old. As he admitted, the super eagle initially had to struggle on his home and home hill in Bischofshofen.
For Stefan Kraft, Bischofshofen is THE home jumping par excellence. The Pongauer grew up just a few kilometers from the ski jump and completed more jumps there than on any other ski jump. However, that doesn’t mean that he succeeds in every jump there. So he had to fight hard in training before the final of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament. “It was brutally difficult,” reports the 30-year-old and becomes even more specific. “The first jump was really embarrassing.” “I was ashamed. The coaches laughed at me, and I laughed at myself too. The first jump was really embarrassing,” he says frankly. “It’s always different in winter than in summer.” But from jump to jump he got better into the swing of things. “I did it well,” he said, very satisfied with his qualifying performance. The computer spit him out in second place. Only beaten by the outstanding Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi. “The green line was a bit gone, so I didn’t think I would be second,” explained the three-time world champion. “Ryoyu must have made a special jump.” But the Japanese top favorite for overall victory can’t be too sure – before the last competition he was separated by 4.8 points from the German Andreas Wellinger. “The jump spreads a lot,” says Kraft. “But he is the favorite.”Aigner as a hot potatoThe Austrians, however, want to heat him up. In Innsbruck, Jan Hörl won and Michael Hayböck came third. And in Bischofshofen, the ÖSV Eagles immediately showed that they would be a force to be reckoned with. In addition to Kraft, Clemens Aigner particularly shone as he qualified third. “This is his jump,” says the team leader. “Aigi has often achieved his best placings here. I would like him to hop right up to the front. I really like him.”So far, a seventh place in ski flying at the Kulm 2018 is his best World Cup result. It is quite possible that he will improve this at the end of the tour on Saturday (start of the first round: 4.30 p.m.).
source site-12