The ski jumpers experienced a tough competition at the end of the weekend in Lahti. The men’s singles on Sunday (03/26/2023) required strong nerves, a lot of staying power and luck in the wind. While Karl Geiger was carried onto the podium by the wind, his teammate Andreas Wellinger was completely blown away. Victory went to Japan.
Ryoyu Kobayashi won the final individual of the Ski Jumping World Cup in Lahti, Finland, which was dominated by difficult wind. The Japanese prevailed in the competition, which was shortened to just one jump, with a jump of 136.5 meters ahead of Stefan Kraft (130 meters/Austria) and Karl Geiger (133 meters). Of the seven starters from the German Ski Association (DSV), he was the most fortunate in constantly changing winds.
“It turned extremely today and delayed. You definitely needed luck, otherwise you wouldn’t have come down. But I also made my best jump and I’m super happy now“, explained Geiger after the competition on ZDF.
Eisenbichler and Lisso in the top 15
Second best DSV eagle Markus Eisenbichler. But he also had problems in flight and landed at 121 meters. “In the air it threw me off a bit. You need luck and a good jump today. It was ok, it’s just a windy competition today“, said the Siegsdorfer after his attempt. He was 13th.
Justin Lisso, who was a little ill overnight and went into the competition slightly injured, showed a decent, albeit “not quite optimal” Jump. Shortly after the stem he started to sway, but pulled the jump down to a decent 118.5 meters. That was enough for 15th place.
Hoffmann not as good as the day before
Felix Hoffmann couldn’t quite match the performance from the day before, where he was the best DSV jumper in the team competition. In the individual, a gust of wind after a good jump threw him out of the system and it was already over at 104.5 meters. “It was difficult today, there’s a lot of whistle up there‘ he analyzed his jump.’Maybe a little more excitement” could have carried him further. Due to the bad conditions and the associated bonus points, his distance was still enough for a place in the top 30.
Constantin Schmid also found himself there, who, with his attempt “very satisfied” war. “With better conditions it would have gone down even further” he decided. Despite “frozen feet“Because of the long wait and with no wind, he still managed 110 meters. Schmid finally finished 23rd, Hoffmann also collected World Cup points in 27th.
Wellinger gone with the wind
Martin Hamann was not satisfied. He went off the beam as the first jumper of the German septet. However, his 111.5 meters were not enough. “I don’t think I’ll get another try today“, he oracled afterwards, without referring to the external circumstances. He ended up in 31st place and thus outside the World Cup points.
Andreas Wellinger of all people had the absolutely worst conditions of all 64 starters. It was completely blown away by the wind and after 95 meters it touched the slope again. All the extra points didn’t help either. Wellinger would only have been a spectator in a second round. “The wind points speak for themselves. We’ve been choking around for an hour and 40 minutes, the wind arrows turning faster than you can see. This has nothing to do with a sporting competition“, he vented his frustration after 34th place.
