Karl Geiger seemed pretty composed as he completed the slalom run through the interview zone after his qualifying jump. As if he had almost suspected that this jump, which only took him to 106.5 meters, would also fail. Like so many before this winter. “That was a step in the toilet,” said Geiger, the jump was “too late in terms of timing and wasn’t good enough,” and he “didn’t catch it.”
Geiger ultimately only finished in 53rd place in front of 15,500 spectators and missed the competition on his home hill for the first time since 2013. For the five-time world champion, all hopes of a proper Four Hills Tournament end before it has even begun. “It really annoys me. I’m still emotional. Now we’ll sort it out, drive to Partenkirchen, I’ll do my best again, and then we’ll see what happens next.” If the jumping in Garmisch ends up being similarly frustrating for him, Geiger may voluntarily withdraw from the tour after just two competitions.
The coaches around national coach Stefan Horngacher had already taken Geiger out of the team three weeks ago after poor results in the World Cup in Wisla. Geiger then trained with Andreas Wellinger, who was also in crisis and came through the qualification in 39th place in Oberstdorf, with difficulty, and then trained on the large hill in Planica and on the small Olympic hill in Predazzo.
“As a ski jumper you are very dependent on your instinct,” says Geiger – he hasn’t found it himself yet
On Saturday, during a press conference in a hotel in Fischen near Oberstdorf, Geiger described how things had been going for him in the past few weeks: “The World Cup in Wisla was disastrous for me, there’s no need to talk about it. The first week of training was about breaking down the system so that I could feel things more again. As a ski jumper, you’re very dependent on your instincts.” Geiger unpacked inline skates, alpine skis and cross-country skis to do something different and slowly regain fun and self-confidence. “It was about calibrating the feeling,” he said.
This seemed to work, because at the Italian championships, in which the duo was allowed to take part in Predazzo shortly before Christmas, Geiger came fourth and Wellinger second. But at least Geiger, 32, didn’t manage to take the little boost he got there with him to Oberstdorf. He had repeatedly emphasized that the changes to the suit after the World Cup scandal in Trondheim were giving him a lot of trouble – also because he needed massive changes to his jumping and flying technique with the smaller fabric area. “This is a new set-up that is being thrown at you,” said Geiger on Saturday, and he is still not happy with it.
Geiger was therefore not one of the favorites for the tour this winter anyway. However, the fact that he doesn’t make it through the qualification will probably annoy him immensely. Even though he proved to be a team player after his botched jump: “I’ll be here somewhere, I won’t let that be taken away from me,” said Geiger with regard to Monday’s jumping. “It’s an excellent atmosphere, we have two really hot irons in the fire. And if I can contribute my part to the team, then I’ll do it.” And be it as a flag waver for Felix Hoffmann and Philipp Raimund, the two most promising Germans. Raimund took an excellent second place in Domen Prevc’s qualifying victory.
