One is sick, another has a knee problem: Germany’s ski jumping hopefuls are leaving the Four Hills Tournament damaged. In view of the two upcoming major events, this gives little hope. A star duo that is in poor form should also remain in the team for the time being.
Philipp Raimund was completely weak, Felix Hoffmann’s knee hurt. Germany’s ski jumping hopefuls were happy when the 74th Four Hills Tournament was over. “I just felt like shit. I got really sick. I was still able to perform at a high level,” said the ailing Raimund after jumping in the icy cold in Bischofshofen.
National coach Stefan Horngacher described the scene before the competition as follows: “In the hall he was still lying on the mat and was almost collapsing. He really wanted to jump and did quite well.”
Hoffmann is supposed to have an MRI scan. The left knee is affected, in which the best German repeatedly felt “stinging pain”. Hoffmann finished the tour in sixth place overall, Raimund in eighth place.
The German ski jumpers’ prospects for the Ski Flying World Championships and the Olympics are rather poor
The five tour riders around Raimund and Hoffmann will be there for the coming World Cup weekend in Zakopane. The veterans Pius Paschke, Andreas Wellinger and Karl Geiger weakened throughout the entire tour and have to get going quickly because the Ski Flying World Championships are coming up in Oberstdorf in two and a half weeks.
Paschke and Wellinger will probably forego the following Japan weekend in Sapporo. Instead, they should train at home. This does not apply to violinists. “Karl wants to go there, he has to qualify for the Olympics at some point,” said Horngacher. To do this, Geiger has to achieve either a place in the top eight or two top 15 places.
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Four and a half weeks before the Olympics in Italy, national coach Stefan Horngacher has a lot of work to do to get the team ready for the major events. His athletes only partially achieved the goal for the tour (“That we go home without an accident – and be successful”). Although Hoffmann and Raimund completed decent competitions, they were once again unable to keep up with the world leaders led by Prevc.
For the former world-class athletes Wellinger and Geiger, it is currently not about medals or victories – but about staying on the German World Cup team. Neither Wellinger nor Geiger were able to convince on the tour. “We currently have too many who are eliminated before the second round. That’s the sober reality,” described Wellinger. He himself was part of this group in all four competitions.
Behind Hoffmann and Raimund there are only two other places for the Olympics, which should be between Paschke, Wellinger and Geiger. The luck of Wellinger (30) and Geiger (32) is that there are currently no talents trying to challenge them for these places in the coming weeks.
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