Only a competitor’s mistake saved Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger from qualifying in Innsbruck. To the surprise, Domen Prevc, the previous dominator of the Four Hills Tournament, also ended up quite far back – but he had a big disadvantage. An Austrian secured victory.
That was extremely close. Ski jumping Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger avoided an unexpected setback by a tiny 0.1 points and, as 50th in the qualification, just reached the final of the best 50 athletes in Innsbruck. The 30-year-old jumped 115 meters in the preliminary round and will face qualifying winner Jan Hörl from Austria at the Four Hills Tournament on Sunday (1:30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport).
Overall leader Domen Prevc, who was unlucky with the conditions, allowed himself a supposed weakness for the first time: with a strong tailwind, he only jumped 112 meters and therefore didn’t get past 30th place. However: On the treacherous and wind-prone Bergisel ski jump, the wind compensation points are rarely enough to compensate. The Slovenian had previously won every qualification and every competition on this tour. However, the points from the preliminary round do not count towards the overall ranking.
When Wellinger jumped, the wind conditions were still fine. “We’re working extremely hard to find a solution that makes it easier. The flow and lightness are completely missing. I notice that as soon as I jump out of the top. From then on it’s just a fight,” said Wellinger, describing his flights on ZDF.
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“It’s difficult,” added the Bavarian. Just 25 minutes before the end of the qualifying, the stadium announcer said that Wellinger was “on the ejection chair”. Only because of a mistake by Norwegian Marius Lindvik did he manage to finish in 50th place.
The top German duo Felix Hoffmann and Philipp Raimund easily qualified in front of 8,400 spectators. Hoffmann (123 meters) jumped to fifth place, Raimund (116.5 meters) came 17th. In the overall tour standings, both are still aiming for a podium place. Pius Paschke (23rd) and Karl Geiger (39th) bought their ticket for the Bergisel jumping.
“I found today to be a very positive day,” said Geiger, who missed the qualification in Oberstdorf and the second round in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Four Hills Tournament, Innsbruck, duels of the Germans
Felix Hoffmann (5/Suhl) – Robin Pedersen (46/Norway)
Philipp Raimund (16/Oberstdorf) – Felix Trunz (35/Switzerland)
Pius Paschke (23/Kiefersfelden) – Gregor Deschwanden (28/Switzerland)
Karl Geiger (39/Oberstdorf) – Rok Oblak (12/Slovenia)
Andreas Wellinger (50/Ruhpolding) – Jan Hörl (1/Austria)
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