Maybe he’s brooding again now. In any case, it is conceivable. Perhaps a doubt creeps into his head again, nests there and begins to grow. Doubts feed on themselves and breed more and more doubts. Sure, nobody wishes anything bad on an opponent, but the thought is still permissible: The winter two years ago – Halvor Egner Granerud had already won five World Cups before the tour, and then? In the end, the big Norwegian favorite didn’t even get on the podium.
But ski jumping is a fair sport, the rules for wind and weather are optimized, everyone knows everyone and doesn’t wish anyone trouble. Even in the turbulent opening event of the Four Hills Tournament on Thursday in Oberstdorf, which produced one powerful jump after the other, the jumpers gave each other a fair five and in the end the 26-year-old Granerud surpassed everyone with two even more powerful jumps. Stefan Horngacher, Germany’s psychologically well-versed coach, remarked: “We did well today,” adding: “The Granerud picked up a big rucksack.”
The German coach may have alluded to the fact that this opening competition had produced a rarely large group of second favourites. Five jumpers gathered behind Granerud, who still have chances for a podium place. The two Poles Piotr Zyla and Dawid Kubacki, as well as Karl Geiger from Oberstdorf, the Austrian Stefan Kraft and Andreas Wellinger, whose foot problems have subsided and who is now in sixth place in the ranking.
They all didn’t show their best jumps that night. Perhaps Zyla is the closest, he cheered so happily that he hardly had a voice afterwards. This punctual increase was hardly to be expected. His teammate Kubacki also dropped a lot in the second flight, as did Geiger and Wellinger. On the other hand, the eyes of the two Germans shone and shone particularly brightly that evening because they are still on the way back to their best form, so they can continue to improve.
Quirk allowed: Granerud would rather be a missed winner than a symmetrical loser
Granerud on the other hand, at least that is the hope of the competition, now has two completed jumps in his heavy rucksack, which he can hardly improve on. So he’s more likely to have something to lose, and that’s a thought that can occur at three o’clock in the morning, even to more psychologically sound leaders.
Alexander Stöckl, his trainer, who has known him for years, gave an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of his jumpers before the tour. Stöckl locates the fate that may have cost Granerud the tour victories in the past two years in his own thoughts. Be present, let go of your thoughts, live in the now: These absolutely correct tips for athletes are particularly good for jumpers. But Granerud, says Stöckl, retains a tendency to compare his old jumps too much to today, to think too much about the jumps at all. As a jumper, you have to “stay in the here and now and not think ahead about what will happen in the future,” says Stöckl.
Talented lateral flyer: The fact that Halvor Egner Granerud was presented with the trophy in Oberstdorf does not mean anything for the rest of the tournament hills.
(Photo: Angelika Warmuth/dpa)
And then there is the other construction site, a weakness that has slowed Granerud up to now, perhaps as much as his strained head. He is a lateral flyer, he takes off and sometimes drifts violently to the right. This has to do with his asymmetrical leg and arm position, which has caused him to land on the plastic tarpaulin next to the gang, but which cannot be easily corrected. Because no one knows whether Granerud will still land far below when he has given up the habit of flying at an angle and is gliding straight.
The change would be so difficult that even strength training could suffer. Specific exercises could backfire, Stöckl fears that Granerud would perform an exercise position, such as a squat, supersymmetrically, but automatically with less effort. “But you need strength training,” says Stöckl. And because the switch to a softer and more coordinated ski brand in the air was already bringing them closer to the middle, it was decided that Granerud would change nothing for now and be a miss-landing winner rather than a symmetrical loser.
It worked quite well in Oberstdorf, but that doesn’t mean anything for the rest of the tournament hills. They have different challenges, in particular the narrow Bakken in Innsbruck or in Garmisch, where Granerud jumped his second big chance of a tour win last winter; as eighth he had no chance against the leading Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi.
These are the considerations that the rivals now hope will keep the Norwegian busy. It may be that the thoughts come out of the backpack at night or at the decisive moment before the start on the beam and make him doubt his greatest moment so far, his next big opportunity.
But it can also be that he has the child’s game behind him, stands above it and simply flies further away from the others.