The fact that Andreas Wellinger lost the lead in the overall ranking of the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck didn’t bother him.
After placing 15th in the qualification, the 2018 Olympic champion improved significantly in Wednesday’s competition: with his jumps of 132 and 126.5 meters, he kept the gap to Ryoyu Kobayashi, who was second again, within limits and picked up a shiny black eye.
“That’s more or less nothing on the big ski jump in Bischofshofen,” said Wellinger Eurosport. “If you survive the Bergisel and are only a few points behind in second place, you can go to Bischofshofen with peace of mind,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher.
The lessons from Innsbruck.
Take a deep breath! Wellinger saves himself on Mount Doom
1.) Wellinger is morally on top
As always, it wasn’t a walk in Innsbruck. For Richard Freitag, Severin Freund and Karl Geiger, tour dreams had already been dashed here in the past and for Wellinger too, after qualifying, it looked as if Bergisel could once again become Germany’s mountain of fate.
But then the cool Wellinger showed two clean jumps and kept his chances of winning the tour alive. “His competition wasn’t ideal, but he still came fifth. That shows his stability,” said Eurosport-Expert Martin Schmitt: “That’s a great thing and should give him self-confidence.”
Above all, the first jump of 132 meters after the previously mixed qualification and training performance was worth its weight in gold. “After qualifying, I feared that it would be more than ten points – but it wasn’t,” said former national coach Werner Schuster Eurosport.
The Bergisel knot bursts! Wellinger brushes off quality concerns
“He went all out and hardly lost any points to Kobayashi. He’s still fully involved in the tour,” said the current national coach Horngacher.
Emotionally cheered on by his father, sister and brother-in-law in Innsbruck, Wellinger continued to appear clear, focused and not the least bit nervous. “Sorting the whole thing from your head works pretty well,” he said himself.
He was able to get over the fact that he was 1.9 points short of a podium finish at Bergisel. “The jumps and the path are important,” he said. After another night in Innsbruck, he takes the DSV jumpers to Bischofshofen on Thursday, where qualification for the Epiphany jumping takes place on Friday.
Wellinger has good memories of the last stop on the tour: in 2017 he won the qualification and in 2018 he came third in the competition. “I always look forward to Bischofshofen. I like the ski jump and have jumped extremely well there,” he said.
However, this also applies to Kobayashi, who won there in 2019 and 2022 and thus completed the tour victory twice. “He is in outstanding form, nothing can impress him,” said Schmitt. The role of favorite also makes the laid-back Japanese “even stronger. He’ll be a tough nut to crack for Andi, of course.”
That’s exactly what Wellinger would like to prevent on Saturday. His motto for Epiphany is therefore: “Attack fully, get into the hole with confidence, land cleanly and then look at the results list to see what it says.” Ideally, he would be more than 4.9 points ahead of Kobayashi…
2.) The Bergisel is annoying – and still cool
No, the weather in Innsbruck did not disappoint this time either. Always prone to wind, the third stop on the tour was also nerve-wracking in 2024: After the tough qualification on Tuesday, it was threatening to get dark on Wednesday when the last jumpers were still at the top – there won’t be floodlights on Bergisel until 2026.
Immediately in front of the overall World Cup leader Stefan Kraft, the final round was even interrupted for 20 minutes before the wind, which was partly swirling down the valley on one side of the slope and uphill on the other, had calmed down somewhat. It wasn’t until 3:58 p.m. that the last jumper was down.
The jury tried their best and happily switched hatches 11, 12 and 13 back and forth in the final round. A game that paid off: Afterwards, almost everyone emphasized how well the FIS officials had carried out the competition. “All in all, they led a fantastic show jumping,” said Eurosport-Expert Schuster.
Wrestling with Mount Doom: That’s what Wellinger, Geiger and Co say.
“The jury did an excellent job,” agreed Schmitt with regard to the overall ranking: “Everything went well – Kobayashi and Wellinger still have every chance.”
The bottom line is that “the best jumper won” with the Austrian Jan Hörl in Innsbruck – a circumstance that is not always the case with wind lotteries. And ultimately an indication that things are going well on the treacherous Bergisel.
The DSV camp noted with great relief that Wellinger kept his chances of winning the tour in fifth place. Others had less to cheer about at the German “Fate Mountain”: Pius Paschke finished 36th, Karl Geiger did only slightly better in 26th.
Tough performance: Geiger also disappointed in Innsbruck
Both lost significant ground in the tour rankings (22nd/14th), and in the overall World Cup both fell two places (5th/6th).
“I’m having an extremely difficult time and the Bergisel isn’t necessarily my favorite ski jump,” complained Geiger Eurosport with a “very difficult day of ski jumping”. Things didn’t go much better for Stephan Leyhe (18th) and Philipp Raimund (20th).
“I don’t know whether I hit the toilet completely,” puzzled youngster Raimund, who in eleventh place is now the second best German in the overall standings: “There was a small corner in there, but it was never supposed to have such a big impact.” In the eleventh competition of the season, for the first time there was no German on the podium.
3.) Red-white-red party with a downer
21,000 spectators had hoped for a different outcome at Bergisel with a view to the overall tournament standings, but gratefully accepted Jan Hörl’s victory – after all, no ÖSV jumper had won in Innsbruck since Gregor Schlierenzauer in 2013.
“For me it was full attack, win or coffin, that works best for me,” cheered the 25-year-old, who is the Austrians’ jokester: “In the team, there has to be insults from time to time – and I’ll make sure of that .”
Hörl breaks the ÖSV curse on Bergisel – the decision
“Jan is a joker,” said colleague Stefan Kraft on “ORF”: “When he’s on a roll and makes a few jokes, he’s very important for the team as a joker.”
Kraft himself once again had less to laugh about; Having traveled to the tour as the overall World Cup leader, sixth place in Innsbruck ended all hopes of his second overall victory since 2014/15. “He was in an all-or-nothing situation and that’s why he was perhaps not quite as relaxed,” Schmitt analyzed Eurosport.
“It’s over now, but we’re enjoying the day,” said Kraft, looking at the red-white-red party, which Michael Hayböck heated up even further in third place. The fact that Schuster scion Jonas (20) showed a refreshing jump (122.5 m) and the 17-year-old Stephan Embacher even collected his first World Cup points in 13th place fit into the picture.
On tour debut! 17-year-old scores World Cup points for the first time
Hörl (“My greatest strength is the horsepower in my haunches”), meanwhile, lifted his second World Cup victory into third place in the tour rankings, even surpassing Kraft. The fact that he was already the equivalent of 13.1 meters behind Kobayashi didn’t bother him about his victory.
Looking at his home hill, the Bischofshofener said aggressively: “23.6 points are of course quite a lot. But the hill suits me very much. And given my form, I’m really looking forward to it.”
If Hörl makes the almost impossible possible on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze, Austria will be able to celebrate a red-white-red overall winner for the first time since Kraft 2014/15.