At some point during this Four Hills Tournament, someone asked the German ski jumping coach Stefan Horngacher what the strengths of Philipp Raimund lie, this young ski jumper who jumped into the team as ordered by the German association. The national coach then listed what Raimund is already good at, and the result was like an interim report full of A’s with a star. Always be so truthful about his sunny manner, someone asked, and Horngacher agreed. And then the trainer pondered a bit and added that the boy sometimes talked a bit too much, but that he probably couldn’t find anyone else to talk to: “I sometimes wonder,” said Horngacher, “whether he doesn’t have a hairdresser.”
Just as Philipp Raimund from Oberstdorf looks like, he also has his hair cut by a professional. However, his face was still less known until the very end because the association does not present young talents to the media as much. At the latest after this tour, that was settled, because newcomer Raimund started his public career with considerable leaps. While almost all of his mature teammates lost their form under the pressure of the tour, due to illness or psychological reasons, the 22-year-old from the Allgäu got better and better on track. His tour record is on the up, he finished 14th, 15th, 13th and finished twelfth. In the overall classification he was the second best German in thirteenth place, two places behind Andreas Wellinger, the Olympic champion.
However, no one in the ski association is quite as surprised by this development. The news of a new talent spreads as if by itself, especially when the established top jumpers are gradually getting older and new forces can relieve them. Early on, Raimund helped dominate the youth and junior classes, as a talent can only do when it appears carefree. Raimund, who likes to talk on the hill, especially after the jump, seems to be missing the word concern in his vocabulary.
In other words: “He doesn’t give a damn,” says Karl Geiger when asked about Raimund’s strength, which is a sign of great respect among ski jumpers. His young club mate “celebrated how full the stadium was” at the opening competition in Oberstdorf. He absorbed this moment, these emotions, Geiger recalls. And above all: Unlike other young jumpers who are inhibited by respect, Raimund does not shy away from those whom the newcomer only knows from television. Something like that, says Geiger: “Hey, I already know you, you don’t know me, but I know you!”
High bounce, good flight system, correct ski guidance – Raimund has many strengths
In any case, it was good for this talent that the trainers took him out of the World Cup again in November and let him compete in the second-rate Continental Cup. Before that, Raimund had shown the old errors in his flight system again in Klingenthal and Wisla. With his junior colleagues, he then jumped against his generation for the first time, because Horngacher was of the opinion that self-confidence was important for the young jumper in addition to a few technical skills. So Raimund gained a lot with the earnings from a two-week training break and victories in the Conti-Cup.
Then the tour began and Raimund showed what Horngacher meant in his interim report. “He has extremely good qualifications,” said Horngacher recently. The young man from Oberstdorf has above-average jumping power, but that alone is not enough for a good jumper. He must also be able to push himself to the limit when throwing himself into the void when taking off from the take-off table. In terms of type, Raimund is “carefree”, says Horngacher, “he’s getting out of there”.
Doesn’t shy away from showing his emotions: Philipp Raimund’s talkativeness in the outrun of the hills sometimes even goes a bit too far.
(Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa)
At some point, with every talent, the trainer’s praise comes to an end, but Horngacher continued his description of Raimund for the time being. After he got out of there, Raimund developed a “good flight system” because he already had a correspondingly advanced level of skiing. Four days later, in the first round of Bischofshofen, with his best jump of this tour, this could be seen. He came to 136 meters, in the end he was the best German, just like in Innsbruck.
The task for the future should now be to get this jumper used to the routine. And to develop all of Raimund’s talents as well as possible without asking too much. Raimund should also slow down his curiosity and talkativeness in the outrun of the hills a little. In a sport that’s all about little tricks and specially tuned equipment, you don’t have to tell everyone everything. “His open nature is positive,” says Horngacher, but at some point he could “stop talking all over again.”
It doesn’t matter, that’s what hairdressers are for. After this long tour and the World Cups that followed, a haircut wouldn’t hurt when he returned to Oberstdorf. In addition, with Raimund’s leap into the top 15 in the world, a lot of conversation has accumulated. His hairdresser will probably not have a say.