For the first time since 2015, the German ski jumpers will start the World Cup without Markus Eisenbichler. Former ski jumper Severin Freund knows the ups and downs in the sport – and is therefore confident.
By Johannes Kirchmeier, Victor List
This primal scream, this “Yesssssssssssssssssssssss” from deep within the ski jumper’s chest, burned itself into the hearts of the ski jumping fans. Markus Eisenbichler, the Upper Bavarian boy from Siegsdorf, had just won the world championship title on the large hill – right in front of his teammate Karl Geiger. It was Eisenbichler’s greatest individual success ever.
On February 23, 2019, Markus Eisenbichler was right to call himself “King of the Skies”. In the days that followed, he also won gold medals with the team and the mixed team as a model jumper at the World Championships in Seefeld and Innsbruck. Two years later, Eisenbichler came second in the overall World Cup. It was his strongest phase as a ski jumper.
National coach Horngacher will do without Eisenbichler in the World Cup
And since this Eisenbichler had been known almost exclusively in celebration since the Tyrolean triumphs, the news after the German Championships in Klingenthal that the Siegsdorfer would initially be competing in the second-class Continental Cup hit even harder: after all, the 32-year-old was his first It has been a long time since he was nominated for the German ski jumping World Cup squad. And for the first time since 2015, the recently out-of-form six-time world champion will miss the first two stages of a new World Cup winter. This time the competitions will take place at the end of November in Ruka/Finland and at the beginning of December in Lillehammer/Norway.
“The athletes who are unfortunately not there now definitely have the opportunity to offer themselves. The principle of performance applies here. We are open to every athlete,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher after the German championship. “The density is very high.” The strict performance principle after the first courses and the DM in Klingenthal was also Eisenbichler’s downfall in this case: he only ended up in tenth place and is left out for the time being.
Ex-jumper friend about Eisenbichler: “Potential is definitely there”
Former teammate Severin Freund knows the ups and downs that arise, especially in ski jumping. But he doesn’t want to talk about a “crash” with Eisenbichler. Freund sees Eisenbichler’s biggest problem as the lack of consistency: “He always had jumps that flew completely out of the stadium, but he also always had jumps that didn’t make him far at all,” Freund told BR24Sport.
Despite the disappointment, one should not forget that he won the test round in Klingenthal. That’s why Freund isn’t worried about Eisenbichler: “The Eisei can still jump onto the podium in the competition at any time if he makes the right jumps. The potential is definitely there.”
The many little wheels and the crux of ski jumping
In ski jumping, the line between top performances and early landings is narrower than in other sports, and Eisenbichler is not the first example of this. He already had predecessors like Martin Schmitt or his ex-teammate Freund, who suddenly had to compete in the Continental Cup after winning the overall World Cup. And there they prepared themselves for new heights.
There are so many little wheels that make the difference between a long glide or a short hop. When the jump is going, all of these movements seem to mesh together as if by magic; the jumpers usually don’t have to correct anything – and if things don’t go well, even the smallest correction can have a fatal effect.
Friend: “You’re trying to influence a feeling that’s constantly changing”
Why this is so difficult: “Because performance in ski jumping is very difficult to reproduce,” says Freund. The physical component can be corrected relatively easily. However, the technology is “constantly in the process of change,” explains the 2014 team Olympic champion. As a ski jumper, you try to “influence a feeling that is always changing. That can then lead to you being what you were two years ago worked (…) suddenly didn’t work at all anymore”. That’s why every ski jumper has phases in his career “where things don’t go well.”
Freund was there at the German Championships and saw Eisenbichler’s jumps. It looked as if he had too much speed in his competition jumps and “that the lift from the jump to reach the necessary height was missing.”
Geiger and Wellinger lead the World Cup team – Schmid is also missing
Eisenbichler is not the only established player who is now missing. Constantin Schmid (ninth in the DM), who was last part of the World Cup squad, is also not there in Finland. This is also because places are now more limited. Each nation now only has five instead of six fixed starters. And that’s where things get tighter.
In addition to the seeded duo Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger, Philipp Raimund, Martin Hamann, Stephan Leyhe and Pius Paschke were nominated instead. Wellinger in particular, it seems, has somewhat overtaken Eisenbichler as the Upper Bavarian leading figure in the team after his strong previous season.
Former national coach Schuster: “He’s not as stable anymore”
For the former ski jumping national coach Werner Schuster, under whom Eisenbichler won the individual World Cup title, the decision to forego the German ski flying record holder is entirely understandable. “He is no longer as stable as he once was. He still has his qualities, but unfortunately no longer has the stability,” said the Austrian at eurosport.de. Schuster now works for young Germans.
But Schuster still has hope: “His good jumps are still at a very high level, it’s important to stabilize himself here. Then he can rejoin the team at the latest at the Four Hills Tournament – if not earlier.” Eisenbichler is to be expected at the Four Hills Tournament shortly after Christmas anyway. He will then at least be part of the national group, in which more jumpers than the otherwise permitted five will be allowed to compete.” And Severin Freund also “firmly assumes” that Eisenbichler will fight his way back.
Schuster thinks: “If you think that Markus Eisenbichler is beaten, then you are wrong! He is a stand-up man.”
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