Winter Olympics
Olympic false start for German jumpers – Prevc cries
The German ski jumpers have no chance in the fight for the podium places, with Selina Freitag coming seventh. The national coach says what he definitely won’t do now.
The German ski jumpers were only left with the role of spectators at the big medal showdown, the defeated top favorite Nika Prevc wept bitterly in the arms of her coach: The first ski jump decision at the Winter Olympics in Italy offered drama and spectacle, but not the hoped-for first precious metal for the German team.
Selina Freitag, the best of national coach Heinz Kuttin’s team, took seventh place in Predazzo. “I said it in advance, we come here to fight for medals,” said the dissatisfied Kuttin on ARD. However, he knows “that after a day like that you can’t give it up, that you really have to keep calm and remain objective and just keep working.”
Norwegian Stroem achieves gold coup
On Friday, her good second jump was encouraging. “The second jump is definitely motivation. So keep working to get us up there,” she said. “Now the pressure is off a bit and I’m taking that with me.”
Surprisingly, it was not the Slovenian Prevc who was crowned Olympic champion, but Anna Odine Stroem from Norway. She cheered exuberantly with her teammates and seemed to be unable to believe her success. Stroem relegated Prevc to second place with jumps of 100 and 101 meters. Bronze went to Japan’s Nozomi Maruyama. “She can be beaten. Everyone has a good day and a bad day,” commented Friday Prevc’s silver rank.
Reisch jumped to ninth place as the second best German. Flag bearer Katharina Schmid ended up in 16th place. They were all just supporting actresses in a thrilling battle for the podium places.
“At the moment I’m a little disappointed,” said Schmid. “It may not have been that relaxed. But who is relaxed at the Olympics?”
Polonaise and vuvuzelas at the ski jump
In freezing temperatures at the ski jumping facility in Val di Fiemme, the spectators in the well-filled stands saw an exciting jumping show in the first round. Some of them passed the long wait before the grand finale with a polonaise, while French fans had vuvuzelas with them. Because of the slippery conditions, the Olympic mascot had to be supported while walking.
Many fans came from Slovenia, especially for Prevc. They were happy about the first medal in the first Olympic competition of the 20-year-old’s career. But nothing came of the hoped-for gold.
The sister of Four Hills Tournament winner Domen Prevc is actually dominating this winter, like her brother among the men. She has already won 13 World Cup competitions this season and is confidently ahead in the overall World Cup.
For Stroem it was also his first Olympic medal and then gold. It is by far the 27-year-old’s greatest career success.
There is no boost from the opening ceremony
The German jumpers didn’t start as top favorites, but they certainly had realistic chances of winning a medal. Freitag has already made it to the podium six times this winter. The 24-year-old from Saxony is in fifth place in the overall World Cup. In Predazzo she now jumped 94.5 and 97.5 meters.
Reisch has also recently shown performances at a consistently high level. She also did well in training on the converted Olympic ski jump. Now, however, it was only enough for jumps of 92 and 93 meters.
For standard-bearer Schmid, the last season of her career is far from the best. Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion from Oberstdorf still had a chance of winning a medal.
The emotional and blissful moments of the opening ceremony, which Schmid described as “mega-mega-cool”, were intended to give an additional boost. This was not possible with jumps of 89 and 97.5 meters. Juliane Seyfarth, the fourth German starter, was eliminated after the first round.
The jumpers now have a break from competition until Tuesday. Then the mixed team is on the program.
dpa
