Dhat was it with the Grand Slam. Halvor Egner Granerud had to hold out in the leader’s box until the very end. Until the moment when Poland coach Thomas Thurnbichler lowered the flag and Dawid Kubacki picked up speed. When the World Cup leader took off explosively from the take-off and assumed his flying position, a murmur went through the audience. Down there, in the Bergiselschanze basin, 18,700 spectators watched spellbound to see whether Kubacki would succeed in defeating Tournament dominator Granerud.
The Pole jumped “only” 121.5 meters. But because of his lead from the first round, it was enough to overtake the Norwegian, who at 133 meters was the only one to go beyond the 130-meter mark. It was the first defeat for the outstanding man of this Four Hills Tournament, who still has all the trumps in his hand despite the second place in Innsbruck. When the Golden Eagle changes hands after the final competition in Bischofshofen on Epiphany, Granerud will take the trophy up north with him.
On Wednesday Granerud was only 3.5 points behind Kubacki after the Bergisel jumping. But in the overall ranking of the tournament, it is still a large cushion of 23.3 points (equivalent to 12.94 meters) that allows Granerud to go to the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze with peace of mind. “It was an exciting day and an exciting competition,” said Granerud. “I’m very happy to be further up the field. There is a great burden on my shoulders.”
The respect is great. Big-name competitors of the high-flyer are amazed by the way Granerud skis jumps. “He has a brutal self-confidence,” enthuses the German Markus Eisenbichler. “It runs by itself for him,” says the Pole Kamil Stoch, and his compatriot Kubacki adds: “Every part fits into the other.” Fourth-placed Stefan Kraft made the most astonishing observation about the traditional Bergisel ski jumping event. The Austrian frontman says: “Halvor must have found something under the Christmas tree.”
The rivals may also be puzzled – one thing is certain: The victory of the Four Hills Tournament 2022/2023 will only lead to Granerud. The pilot from the north already won the first competition in Oberstdorf. And on New Year’s Day there was no one who could pose a threat to Granerud on the large Olympic hill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is predestined for gliders. Not even Kubacki, the man who traveled to the German-Austrian ski jumping spectacle in the yellow jersey of the World Cup leader.
Ski jumping on the Bergisel – that’s something for adventurers and daring people. The radius on the hill is sharper than elsewhere, and there are some jumpers who don’t just have their eyes on the green line to be jumped. On the opposite side, the Nordkette beckons on the horizon, and the Westfriedhof comes to light directly behind the ski jump in Innsbruck. In concrete terms, this means that a wide range of spectacles are on offer at the Bergisel.
Tagessieger: Dawid Kubacki
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Image: EPA
This was also the case on January 4th, when at least the meteorologists got it wrong. The feared foehn collapse did not materialize. Of course, winter still didn’t reign in the Tyrolean state capital. But the conditions were bearable at seven degrees. The west wind was also reasonably kind to the jumpers. The top man in the first round was Kubacki, who had already won the qualification the day before. The Pole, who is strong in jumping and always makes a small hook with his body in the air, landed at 127 meters. Others like the Austrian Stefan Kraft (129.5), his compatriot Michael Hayböck and the Norwegian Marius Lindvik (both 128) jumped further than Kubacki. But the Pole had worse conditions and was therefore better graded.
Ahead of the overall victory: Halvor Egner Granerud
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Image: EPA
Ryoyu Kobayashi also felt that the Bergisel can become a sporting mountain of destiny for many a ski jumper. The former Grand Slam winner, who traveled to the current tour as the defending champion, dropped out after the first round. The weak Japanese had never experienced anything like this in his impressive career so far. Kobayashi was the first jumper ever to get into the inrun track – and a short time later his personal debacle was complete.
“We cannot be satisfied overall”
Markus Eisenbichler, on the other hand, experienced unusual feelings of happiness. The German finally made it into the final with his jump of 117 meters. A hitherto unique experience on this tour. Neither in Oberstdorf nor in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was the emotional jumper, who had lost that feeling for ski jumping for months, at the respective finals of the top 30. But his teammates Philipp Raimund (13th at Bergisel), Andreas Wellinger (18th), Constantin Schmid (26th) and Pius Paschke (28th). Eisenbichler, who jumped 116 meters the second time at Bergisel, was 22nd.
“We have a ray of hope with Philipp, but we can’t be satisfied overall,” said Horst Hüttel, the ski jumping team manager of the German Ski Association. “We have some catching up to do. As a team, we’ve never been as far away as we are at the moment. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” Stefan Horngacher, who came to the Bergisel with his team full of hope, spoke of a “difficult situation” after the poor performance in the jumping on Wednesday, for which Karl Geiger wasn’t even qualified. We have to make sure that we get out of the negative waters.” The national coach added in his analysis: “The last three seasons have been excellent. Now we have a low. Our top guys weren’t good enough. The others up front are in the flow.” One in particular: Halvor Egner Granerud.
