Karl Geiger wins at the start in Oberstdorf

Vadvantage home game. The man who knows the Schattenbergschanze like no one else has mastered it at the start of the Four Hills Tournament. Karl Geiger, who lives only a few hundred meters from the Oberstdorf ski jump, won the first jump of the traditional tour on Tuesday. “I think I can do the jump,” Geiger said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. And how. No one jumped more precisely and cleanly on Tuesday than the 27-year-old Allgäu, who showed the competition his great class in the first round, in which he flew 127 meters and received 13.2 bonus points because of the tail wind.

Just a few weeks ago, Geiger became world champion in ski flying for the first time in Planica. Then his daughter was born – and apparently spurred on by these wonderful events, Geiger showed a strong performance in his first jumps after being in quarantine because of his positive corona test. And its potential to win the overall ranking. Especially in the second round, when it got tight, when it was important to stay calm as the last jumper, Geiger showed no nerves. Already ready to go down the hill, the traffic light jumped to red.

Waiting became a game of nerves. But the 27-year-old family man was not deterred. A light snowfall set in, Geiger climbed back into the track. He had to jump 136.5 meters to overtake Poland’s leader at the time, Kamil Stoch – and he made it to the point. Geiger landed a clean Telemark in the snow, got a total of 291.1 points for his overall performance and with this coup took the lead in the tour’s overall standings.

A man from Oberstdorf wins in Oberstdorf – Max Bolkart was last able to do this in 1959. “I do not know what to say. If there were still spectators there, it would be perfect, ”he said. “It was really brutal,” said Geiger, describing the thrilling competition and national trainer Stefan Horngacher said appreciatively: “Karl jumped incredibly today.” Markus Eisenbichler was also happy: “I was just as happy as if I had been up there myself.”

Geiger stood out from the German team that had gone on tour with high hopes. For most of the teammates, the start on the Schattenberg did not go as planned. Only Severin Freund (24th) and Eisenbichler (27th) managed to qualify for the final round of the thirty best jumpers. The rest of the team, including Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke, who has been stable for weeks, were eliminated.

Eisenbichler achieved a special feat. The emotional jumper showed in the second run what he is capable of. He managed a splendid jump to 142 meters – only one and a half meters below the hill record set by Norwegian Sigurd Pettersen in 2003. “The flight was awesome,” said Eisenbichler, who was very satisfied and made it to fifth place with 274.3 points. Behind Geiger and Stoch, the two Norwegians Marius Lindvik (285.2 points) and Halvor Egner Granerud (280.1) came third and fourth. Granerud, who recently came to the tour with the recommendation of five World Cup victories in a row, was previously considered to be the first contender for victory in the overall standings.

The first big excitement happened much earlier. In a nightly action, the Poles, who had actually been banned for the opening competition, were allowed to go. Your Corona case caused a lot of mess. The fact that defending champion Dawid Kubacki, Grand Slam winner Stoch and Klemens Muranka were allowed to jump was due to a new PCR test. Muranka’s positive Corona test result led to the removal of the entire Polish ski jumping team from the field on Monday. But the Poles did not give up. A second series of PCR tests gave negative results without exception. “We are extremely happy about the good news of the negative test results and the related clearance for the Polish team,” said race director Sandro Pertile in a video conference.

Pertile and Florian Stern, the general secretary of the Oberstdorf opener, were relieved. The Polish ski jumper Muranka had apparently tested false positive. “There was a discrepancy between test one and test two,” said Stern. “That is why we agreed on a third test in consultation with the health authorities.” This was negative. After a “pretty challenging day”, Pertile spoke of a decision “in favor of sport. It is the fairest decision ”.

The case remains a mystery. According to Stern, the fact is that “Muranka’s first sample was retested several times and was definitely positive”. This raises questions about the suitability of the touring test concept. “We are trying to adapt to avoid such cases,” said Pertile and promised mandatory double tests.

The Poles were allowed to breathe a sigh of relief, but they are not completely out of the line of fire. While other nations like Germany follow a meticulous hygiene concept, the Poles have to be accused of negligence. They are said to have driven together in a minibus to Oberstdorf on Sunday, which Pertile also alluded to: “Ten hours in a minibus – you don’t know what’s going to happen.” What happened on Tuesday evening was amazing. “It wasn’t easy to jump today,” said the winner Geiger. “But I showed two really good jumps. If there were still spectators there, it would have been perfect. “