Ski jumper Markus Eisenbichler narrowly missed a return to the World Cup podium despite a splendid second attempt. With a hill record of 146 meters, the 31-year-old Bavarian finished fourth in Lillehammer.

The day's victory went to Poland's Dawid Kubacki ahead of Slovenia's Anze Lanisek and Austria's Daniel Tschofenig. Eisenbichler was initially in fifth place after a 136-meter jump at halftime. After his outstanding 146-meter attempt, Eisenbichler cheered in the outrun. He happily roared into the camera in the finest dialect: "These are the awesome jumps, exactly those!"

For Eisenbichler, who is experiencing a difficult winter, it could have been his second individual podium this season after Sapporo in January. But it was missing the equivalent of a little more than half a meter. "I'm happy about the jump, it was successful. I just took advantage of it. I live for these jumps, so I really freak out," commented Eisenbichler on ARD. Behind Eisenbichler, Philipp Raimund (15th), Justin Lisso (18th), Constantin Schmid (21st) and Stephan Leyhe (28th) also scored World Cup points.

The two best Germans, Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger, had previously had zero numbers. The two mixed world champions Geiger (114.5 meters) and Wellinger (112.5) did not get past ranks 37 and 42 on Thursday. "I made a really bad jump. Then the hill is merciless. That really annoys me, I'm pretty pissed right now," said Geiger. "Karl completely messed up the jump," said national coach Stefan Horngacher.