Four Hills Tournament
The ski jumpers’ debacle is a mystery
Karl Geiger also never found his form during the Four Hills Tournament. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
The German ski jumpers want to quickly forget the messed-up Four Hills Tournament. There is not much time left until the next highlight. The national coach has a completely new task.
After the messed up Four Hills Tournament, Karl Geiger wanted to banish his beloved ski jumping from his head.
“Let’s breathe and do nothing” was the motto of the best German flying artist for the days after the tour performance in Bischofshofen, which failed again. However, Geiger and his colleagues cannot afford to take a long break or even take a holiday.
Recharge your batteries for a moment with the family, the next World Cup is already coming up next weekend. The big question for the rest of the season is: Will the eagles of the German Ski Association (DSV), who have been so successful for years, be able to end their mysterious form crisis before the next big highlight?
Big gap to the world leaders
There are doubts about it. Geiger, Markus Eisenbichler & Co. haven’t been that far from the best in the world for a long time. Not only the high-flyers around tour champion Halvor Egner Granerud and the Polish World Cup leader Dawid Kubacki jump into other spheres. At the competitions in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, no German jumper made it into the top ten – the overall performance with Andreas Wellinger as 11th and Philipp Raimund as 13th was worse than ever in this millennium. Geiger’s qualifying exit at Bergisel was a dropout that was actually not considered possible.
“It’s a situation that makes it difficult,” Wellinger said. “Everyone is a bit at odds. Then the atmosphere is correspondingly poor.” He is still relaxed because he knows about the quality of the team.
In fact, the skills of the team are undisputed. Numerous titles and medals at the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships are proof of this. However, all quality is useless if the athletes cannot call it up at the crucial moments.
“We have to find the key. If we don’t manage that, it will be tough,” said Geiger. The fact that this hasn’t worked for almost the entire winter now gives food for thought. Just one podium in a World Cup individual since the start of the season in November is clearly not enough for the demands of the DSV jumpers.
National coach required as crisis manager
In contrast to what is often the case in football, the solution to the problems is not sought in personal consequences. National coach Stefan Horngacher will look for solutions together with the home trainers and the athletes. “I think the jumpers trust us, the trainers. They know that we are not necessarily the worst trainers and that we talk nonsense,” said the Austrian. Geiger confirms this.
Horngacher has been required as a crisis manager for the first time since taking office in 2019. The experienced coach is not prone to hectic changes or throwing everything overboard. The 53-year-old assesses the situation objectively. “Principle hope is always difficult, there is only principle work,” said Horngacher. “We have to keep calm and see that we get close again.” When the pressure increases, “the shot often backfires” – that’s how it is at the moment with Geiger and his colleagues.
Things are different for youngster Philipp Raimund. The 22-year-old, who comes from the second league of ski jumping, was a German tour ray of hope with ranks 14, 15, 13 and 12. Raimund is not only good for the team on the hill, but also with his relaxed manner. “I don’t look left and right very much and have a healthy self-confidence. I know what I can do,” said the Oberstdorfer by choice.
In February he wants to make it into the squad for the World Cup in Planica, Slovenia. With his own strength and the current form of competition within the team, he has a good chance. If the German team wants to fight for the World Championship medals as usual at the second big highlight of the season in the Slovenian ski jumping stronghold, the top performers of the past few years have to get back into top form. After his short jump break, the world championship countdown begins for Geiger.