Dhe German Four Hills Tournament hope Karl Geiger failed in qualifying for the New Year’s competition. The 29-year-old ski jumper qualified for the New Year’s competition in front of 9,000 spectators on Saturday (2 p.m. on ARD and Eurosport), but fell well short of the high expectations with 119 meters in 30th place.
“In general, I didn’t start that well today. It wasn’t the clean blade. There are reasons for that, we have to do better tomorrow,” said Geiger. Specifically, he named the center of gravity in the inrun track, which he had not found. National coach Stefan Horngacher said: “It wasn’t quite as ideal. It’s not a big stress. Our task was to get in easily. Karl lost his balance a bit, but nothing dramatic.”
A total of ten German jumpers qualified for the prestigious competition at the start of 2023. The best athlete in head coach Stefan Horngacher’s team was surprisingly Philipp Raimund in ninth place. Poland’s Dawid Kubacki (140.5 meters) secured victory ahead of Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek and his compatriot Timi Zajc. In the overall tour standings, the Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud, who finished sixth in qualifying, already has a cushion on his pursuers after his clear victory in Oberstdorf.
A slight upward trend could be seen with German record world champion Markus Eisenbichler. “Eisei” jumped 131 meters and was 14th. “It was difficult in Oberstdorf. It didn’t all work out, then you start quarreling with yourself. It just didn’t work at all. I’m annoyed for a moment, then it was eaten again,” said Eisenbichler on ARD. In the meantime he is looking a little more confidently to the rest of the tour. In Oberstdorf he was 33rd and missed the second round.
Unlike in Oberstdorf, this time the so-called national group was at the start. For David Siegel, Finn Braun and the disqualified Simon Spiewok it was not enough for a place in the top 50 in the preliminary round. Former ski flying world champion Daniel-André Tande from Norway was also disappointed. His 112.5 meter jump was not enough for qualification.
