EFinally a lot of spectators, finally a great atmosphere – and finally the first world championship title for Slovenia. Timi Zajc was exactly the right champion that the athlete from the World Cup country became under the floodlights on Friday. Ski jumping from the large hill at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica: the perfect evening for the 22-year-old flying artist, who later spoke of “one of the best days of my life”.
When it was clear that the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi, who was leading after the first round, would no longer catch him, his teammates carried him through the ski jumping facility on their shoulders. The arena in the valley of the hills was like a madhouse. The spectators didn’t want to calm down at all, and the stadium announcer really rolled over his head, shouting the name Timi Zajc loudly over and over again.
Moving moment
When the Slovenian was asked to the award ceremony, he sank to the ground and kissed the snow. A short time later it suddenly became very quiet, because the fans sang the Slovenian national anthem without any musical accompaniment. A touching moment, which the competitors from other nations followed with devotion and appreciation – among them the German ski jump specialists.
Ambitious and strengthened by the individual successes on the small hill and the World Cup coup in the mixed team in the decision on the large hill, Andreas Wellinger and Karl Geiger were not able to build on their previous excellent World Cup appearances. “It was a high-class, unbelievably strong competition,” said Geiger, who finished eighth with two jumps of 137.5 and 133.5 meters.
His roommate Markus Eisenbichler was able to feel like the best German on a fascinating ski jumping evening. With the two jumps of 131 and 136 meters, he showed one of the best performances of the season and was “very satisfied” with fifth place. My first jump was okay,” said the emotional jumper. “The second was a good grenade. It was a cool competition.”
It should have been cool for Wellinger too. But the World Championships runner-up from the small hill did not quite get along with the large facility and had to be satisfied with 13th place after his two jumps of 127.5 and 130.5 meters. “It was rock solid today. The jump should have been better,” said the 2018 Olympic champion, who found the right words for the new world champion in the hour of the Slovenian triumph.
“That’s how I like it in Planica. All the better that Timi, a Slovenian, deservedly won.” Geiger also bowed verbally to champion Zajc. “Timi is a relatively quiet guy, but a pretty tough guy because he can jump incredibly far and also stand,” said the 30-year-old from Oberstdorf.
Stefan Horngacher was satisfied with the overall performance of his four jumpers, “because we were never among the favorites on the big hill,” said the national coach. He already has his eyes on this Saturday (4:30 p.m.), when the team competition will be the final decision in ski jumping in the Slovenian valley of hills.
The German quartet will jump in the order Eisenbichler, Constantin Schmid, who was 17th, Wellinger and finally Geiger. “We have enough potential to jump right at the front,” said Wellinger. “If we do our stuff, the others will have a hard time.”
