This hasn’t happened in 22 years: For the first time since Sven Hannawald’s coup in 2002, a German ski jumper, Andreas Wellinger, will be the tour leader in Innsbruck. At Bergisel, on the wind-prone and treacherous ski jump that has so often shaken up the overall rankings in the past. The hopes of German jumpers for overall victory have recently been dashed there with unsightly regularity.
This time it will be different – ski jumping legend Jens Weißflog is convinced of that. And hardly anyone knows the tour better than the now 59-year-old, who won the overall title four times. Only the Finn Janne Ahonen won again. Weißflog also took second place on the tour four times and third once. “Wellinger is grabbing the Bergisel ski jump,” he says. “That’s not a question for me. I can’t imagine that negative influences play too big a role for him on the day of the competition.” But he also says: “To win the tour you not only need stable form over four days of competition, but also stable conditions for four days and that Lucky for you.” It’s just a bit crazy.
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Weißflog himself won the Bergisel jumping in 1984 in his first tour triumph. He also celebrated second place six times in Innsbruck and came third twice. He believes in Wellinger’s strength. “He is in absolutely impressive form and you are not afraid of the next jump. Of course, conditions on the Bergisel can play a role, but what you have under control, you have under control. Mount Doom shouldn’t become fate.”
Jens Weißflog won the tour four times, first 40 years ago, most recently in 1996 – that’s when the photo was taken in Innsbruck
Source: picture alliance/HJS-Sportfotos/Hans-Jürgen Schmidt
What Weißflog means by the conditions could be observed in the qualification, which went less well for Wellinger. The infamous Bergisel lived up to its reputation. The “Stop” sign kept flashing on the wind monitor, the conditions kept changing. Quite a few athletes had to wait and some – like Wellinger – had to get off the beam again. When he jumped, it was the tailwind that made things difficult. 15th place. Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan), who is 1.8 points behind in the overall standings, came third behind Austrian Stefan Kraft and winner Anze Lanisek (Slovenia).
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“It was okay,” Wellinger said. “I am convinced that I will have better luck in the competition. I know how to jump here and then it works.” He didn’t seem unsettled. At least he was already on the podium once in Innsbruck: During the 2017/18 tour, Wellinger took third place on the Bergisel and ultimately second place in the overall ranking.
Andreas Wellinger knows the podium in Innsbruck
Source: picture alliance/GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/picturedesk.com
Weißflog is convinced of the 28-year-old’s mental strength. “Returning to the top in this sport after a torn cruciate ligament is really strong and amazing.” And: “He has the experience, which is why he is also mentally strong.”
“The smallest mistake can have fatal consequences”
What makes the jump so difficult? On the smallest of the four tour ski jumps, it is difficult to clearly distinguish yourself from the competition in similar conditions. On the other hand, it can also cause extreme dispersion. “You have to jump with brutal precision. The smallest mistake can have fatal consequences,” former national coach Werner Schuster once described. There is also the danger of a wind lottery, because as valuable as the introduction of wind and gate points is, they cannot compensate for everything.
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“The ski jump,” says Weißflog, “has become even more vulnerable compared to before and is also larger overall. Because the forest on Bergisel is gone, even more wind comes to the system, which cannot all be absorbed by wind nets. The pitfalls of the structure and the influence of the wind on performance – you just need a bit of luck.”
Innsbruck 1983: The Finn Matti Nykänen (middle) wins ahead of Weißflog (l.) and Horst Bulau (Canada)
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa/Martti Kainulainen
When looking at the recent tour history on Bergisel, German fans are likely to feel rather uneasy: in 2016, Severin Freund fell second in the overall ranking and lost important points. He still finished second in the end, but the injuries he sustained later forced him to take a break. Two years later, Richard Freitag was caught, also in second place in the ranking. He also fell during the run-out and even had to end the tour. Afterwards there were heated discussions about the preparation of the landing slope. In 2019, Markus Eisenbichler finished 13th and missed too many points in the fight for overall victory, followed by Karl Geiger twice.
Before the German dramas there were victories
Even Weißflog doesn’t just have fond memories of Innsbruck: he missed the second round twice. But the wind had no influence on either time. Once he couldn’t cope with the fresh snow track and another time, in 1986, material problems were decisive, so that all German athletes had a significantly lower approach speed than the rest of the competition. “We were three km/h behind in Innsbruck and had no chance,” he remembers.
The Germans currently have no problems with this, as the speed ranking at the New Year’s competition impressively showed: Wellinger is always at the top and his teammates are also at the front. Wellinger also recorded the best value at the qualification in Innsbruck with 89.9 km/h. A good prerequisite.
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Nevertheless: “Bergisel’s ski jump of fate – you can say that,” says Weißflog, but applies it to the entire field: “There are so many stories about Innsbruck where fellow favorites fell behind, and that certainly didn’t just affect the Germans. And there are also Germans who have already won there.”
January 4, 2015: Richard Freitag wins the Bergisel jumping event
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Daniel Karmann
The last time it was Markus Eisenbichler was in 2019, although not on the tour, but at the World Cup, when he won ahead of Karl Geiger. Richard Freitag landed the last Innsbruck coup at the Four Hills Tournament in 2015. And these German ski jumpers also won in Innsbruck alongside Hannawald and Weißflog: Manfred Deckert, Henry Glaß, Jochen Danneberg, Hans-Georg Aschenbach, Dieter Neuendorf, Max Bolkart and – at the end of the 50s – twice Helmut Recknagel. And it doesn’t have to be a victory for Wellinger.
