Winter sports
Silver and bronze: two flight medals thanks to Wellinger
Andreas Wellinger won the bronze medal with the team at the Ski Flying World Championships. photo
© Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa
A nerve-racking Andreas Wellinger celebrates at the Ski Flying World Championships. In the supreme discipline on the Kulm, the Bavarian took home two medals. Others get the titles.
“Pius and Karl laid the foundation for the medal. Andi showed another great jump. We can leave the World Cup very satisfied,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher. The 28-year-old team captain shone at the end with 229.5 meters and countered the Norwegian attack. “That was fun again,” added Wellinger after what he considered a “perfect weekend.”
However, the Horngacher quartet had no chance against the golden Slovenian team led by Timi Zajc and host Austria with individual champion Stefan Kraft. The German team’s third place rounded off a World Cup weekend that had a lot to offer: long jumps, long waits, huge cheers and weather extremes from strong winds and uncomfortable constant rain to wonderful sunshine. The German team achieved its goals. “We wrote well,” said Horngacher on ZDF.
Battle between light and wind
The individual final on Saturday in particular had developed into a game of patience. Since there was strong wind, it was not clear for a long time whether flights would take place at all. Training and qualification had already been completely canceled on Thursday due to the weather. Wellinger’s starting position for an individual medal was promising. After two flights on Friday, the 2018 Olympic champion was only around 42 centimeters short of bronze – which is why the Bavarian was worried about continuing.
Since there are no floodlights at the traditional Kulm, the time window was limited. The start was postponed several times by 15 minutes. At 4 p.m. it was clear: it was possible to jump, but only in one round. And Wellinger kept his nerve. With a fantastic flight at 229 meters, he improved from fourth place to second place and was “extremely happy” after his first individual medal at a ski flying world championship.
Wellinger: “Silver won, not gold lost”
Local hero Kraft celebrated the World Cup title in front of a home crowd in a sea of red and white flags. He also kept his nerve and improved from second place the day before. The Slovenian Zajc fell from the leading position to third place. “The man who always jumps over the green line, no matter where it is. Quite a phenomenon. One of the best, if not the best ski jumper,” said Germany’s coach Horngacher about the new world champion.
Despite the recognition for his compatriot, the coach would have been happy about a fourth round. “Another jump would of course have been good. 1.83 meters on a flying hill is almost nothing,” said Horngacher about Wellinger’s distance from first place. But the Bavarian himself didn’t worry about it: “I won silver and didn’t lose gold. Up until an hour ago it could have been that I was going home with a sheet metal and 0.5 points behind,” said a satisfied Wellinger.
The German team got off to a promising start in the team competition in bright sunshine. Paschke and Geiger showed their longest competitive jumps of the weekend in the first round in front of 11,250 spectators. But Leyhe missed meters in both jumps and vice world champion Wellinger only showed his best jump in the second round. In the end it was enough for third place.