German team for the Olympics is set

DThe team is in place, the last two posts have been taken. It is not a surprise that the national ski jumping coach Stefan Horngacher decided in favor of Constantin Schmid and Pius Paschke after the penultimate World Cup stop before the trip to the Olympic Games. As much as he would have liked to take Severin Freund and Andreas Wellinger with him to Beijing: Five is the end – and with Karl Geiger, Markus Eisenbichler and Stephan Leyhe, the undisputed leading trio had been named days ago.

Now, after the highly successful home World Cup on Horngacher’s doorstep in the Upper Black Forest, the Schmid/Paschke duo can also dream of a medal. In Neustadt-Titisee, the German ski jumping team has impressively demonstrated that it has the best chance of competing for gold on the brand-new Olympic hill.

The low of the Four Hills Tournament seems to have been overcome. Just in time for the sporty adventure trip to China, violinists and co. present themselves in splendid shape. On Saturday, when the first of two individual competitions on the Hochfirst-Schanze was on the program (the second competition on Sunday was not over at the time of going to press), no one was better than Geiger. The man from Oberstdorf, who started so well in the World Cup in November before literally surpassing him at the Four Hills Tournament by Ryoyu Kobayashi and winning the 70th edition, found the right flying system again in time for the Olympics.

“Best shape ever”

Harmony instead of troubleshooting, stable jumps instead of annoying wobbles: With Geiger it’s right again. The reward: another World Cup victory for the man from the Allgäu. He was not only happy about his success, but also about the good performance of the entire German ski jumping team. “We’re in better shape than ever before in the overall World Cup,” said Geiger, who finished ahead of Anze Lanisek (283.1) with two jumps of 132 and 141 meters (288.3 points). With his twelfth career success, Geiger drew level with the former tour winner Dieter Thoma.

Geiger’s friend Eisenbichler also improved in the Neustadt-Titisee final, from fifth to third place: “That was pretty good,” said the emotional Eisenbichler later, who also expressed his joy verbally: “I can always smile. Life is beautiful.” For Andreas Wellinger, life as a ski jumper was especially beautiful four years ago. Midnight triumph in Pyeongchang, first in the fight for gold: It was the competition of his life for the Olympic champion, who was repeatedly plagued by injury-related setbacks after his coup and therefore had a particularly difficult time building on the old form.

It is currently an infection with the corona virus that prevented him from doing his flight work in the Black Forest. Wellinger was lost in the fight for the Olympic ticket. Together with his friend he has to stay at home and keep fit. “You have to wait and train,” said Horngacher on Sunday. The German Ski Association can only nominate a substitute if one of the colleagues sent to Beijing is not ready to report.

Geiger is in China. The 28-year-old is the frontman of the German team and he’s really looking forward to the big event. “Even as a child, I always liked to watch the Winter Olympics on TV,” he said in the Upper Black Forest. His plan for the individual, team and mixed competitions with the women: “I’ll do everything I can.” The success on Saturday should give him a boost. He knew: “In the last few years I’ve always had a hard time here.” But now he did both jumps very well: “I’ll take this good feeling with me.”