Ski jumping: sunbathing after a dream jump: Geiger on the podium in Oslo

ski jumping
Sunbathing after a dream jump: Geiger on the podium in Oslo

Karl Geiger got on the podium thanks to a strong second jump in Oslo. photo

© Daniel Karmann/dpa/archive image

First weak, then strong: Karl Geiger convinces with an outstanding second jump on the Holmenkollen. This gives courage for the extremely tightly scheduled Raw Air Tour in Norway.

In the finish area of ​​the famous Holmenkollen stadium, Karl Geiger enjoyed his deserved sunbath. A jump of 137.5 meters brought Germany’s top ski jumper into the leader’s box, which Geiger didn’t have to leave for almost 15 minutes.

The 30-year-old from Oberstdorf was only beaten by Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek and Austria’s Stefan Kraft in the first competition of the Raw Air Tour in Oslo. Lanisek flew two meters further than Geiger, his 139.5 meters caused a murmur in the audience.

Geiger’s jump with an outstanding landing also inspired his former colleague Severin Freund, who celebrated his debut as a ZDF expert as the successor to Toni Innauer. “Definitely a top jump. He can sail all the way down,” commented Freund, who admitted to being just as nervous about his expert debut as he was about his jumping debut on a large hill. Geiger overtook ten rivals in the second round and thus made his first attempt (119 meters) forgotten again.

Important signal for the DSV

For the German Ski Association (DSV), it is an important signal at the start of the Raw Air after the final weekend at the World Championships in Planica and the Oslo qualification had been mixed. Geiger in third place and Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger in fifth are encouraging for the tough series of jumping on ten consecutive days.

The decent result came as a surprise, especially for Wellinger, who has had a turbulent few weeks with two World Cup victories and two World Championship medals. The Bavarian had a cold and didn’t feel fit. “It was agony yesterday,” Wellinger described the qualification. His current fitness level is maybe 30 to 40 percent. In order to leave greats like Ryoyu Kobayashi or the two world champions Timi Zajc and Piotr Zyla behind, his two attempts at 127 and 127 meters were enough.

The other competition plans at the counterpart to the Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria are tightly scheduled. On Sunday (4.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) there is a second individual at Holmenkollen, then it goes to Lillehammer for four days, before three days of flying await at the giant facility in Vikersund. Then the jumpers around Katharina Althaus will start from a flying hill for the first time.

dpa

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