It’s enough – and not just for one person. The top ski jumpers of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament, who have high demands on their sporting appearance, want a change: each in their own way.
Ryoyu Kobayashi finally wants to win again instead of always coming second. After placing second three times from Oberstdorf to Innsbruck, he would be due for a victory at the last competition in Bischofshofen. This would give him his third tour victory. Andreas Wellinger, second overall, is longing for his second victory in this tour. This in turn would give him his first overall victory. That would also be to Sven Hannawald’s taste. Because he seems tired, his triumph from 2001/2002 already has a historical patina. Hannawald finally wants to be replaced as German tour winner: “I want to get rid of my backpack, after 22 years it’s really time,” he says.
“When these thoughts come, you have to take them in and direct them in the right direction”
The qualification for the grand finale of the Four Hills Tournament took place on Friday evening. Andreas Wellinger jumped 128 meters – and only came ninth. His competitor Ryoyu Kobayashi clearly won the qualification. Wellinger is now the equivalent of 2.6 meters behind Kobayashi.
Gradually, some jumpers’ nerves are starting to get in the way. The weather is supposed to get worse, it will rain in Pongau in the Eastern Alps. Andreas Wellinger from Chiemgau is as honest as possible with himself. “Repression doesn’t work,” he learned. “When these thoughts come, you have to take them in and direct them in the right direction,” and, says Wellinger, “I do that quite well.”
After qualifying on Friday evening, for example, he was able to use this self-control of his thoughts straight away. Wellinger had the highest speed in the inrun lane, but initially only showed better training distance. He had roughly the same conditions as his opponent Kobayashi, but landed ten meters shorter. The qualification also showed how close the top jumpers are right now. And the two at the top have a similarly outstanding feeling for flying, are generally in great shape and are taking the situation calmly.
The rest of the German jumpers know what to do – be a Wellinger fan club for an evening
But the question is what will happen in the next 24 hours. How well each of them sleeps, how easily doubts can get into their heads, how stable they feel before this Saturday evening. And also how strong the opponents are: Wellinger has a rather easy opponent in the Finnish Antti Aalto, Kobayashi anyway: He has to deal with the Swiss Gregor Deschwanden, who, on a good day, also flies significantly further than in this Bischofshofen- Qualification.
For a long time, the large German association, the trainers and supervisors in the various jumping centers had plenty of material for discussions and tips on how to deal with such a situation. There are 4.6 points between first and second, when landing this is 2.6 meters on a jump with a hill size of 142 meters. So would it be wise to wait, create a secure base and then bet on everything in the second round? Or attack straight away? Werner Schuster, Austrian and former DSV national coach, has a lot of experience with such a situation. He told the Allgäuer Zeitung: “Maybe it’s even an advantage that Andi is now going in as an attacker.” So: attack instead of tactics.
In any case, the rest of the German team is now doing its best. It is changing from a well-trained ski jumping team to a Wellinger fan club. Rumors arose that the new fans would also make their presence felt at the finale. Every vote counts, because a tour victory in 2024 would give German ski jumping a further boost, and not just for this season. The Nordic World Ski Championships will be held again next winter. And the following winter will be the Olympic Games in Milan.