Karl Geiger seems to be back in shape in time for the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia.

The 30-year-old from Allgäu jumped 98 meters in the qualification on the normal hill and was fourth best German. Olympic champions Andreas Wellinger (9th), Constantin Schmid (12th) and Markus Eisenbichler (25th) easily made it into the top 50 who will be fighting for the medals on Saturday (5 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport). Geiger won the silver medal in the competition in his home town of Oberstdorf two years ago.

In front of around 500 spectators, local hero Anze Lanisek, who, like Geiger, jumped 98 meters, secured the victory of the day. Austria's Stefan Kraft in second place and Slovenia's Timi Zajc in third place also confirmed their chances of winning a medal. The top favorite is Norway's Halvor Egner Granerud, who finished sixth on Friday.

A turbulent weekend awaits the ski jumpers in the valley of the ski jumps. On Saturday the women will jump in teams and the men will jump individually, on Sunday there will be mixed competitions with two women and two men.