Karl Geiger dropped his shoulders and waved disappointedly at the camera: The German ski jumpers around the hopefuls from Oberstdorf suffered a setback on the last World Cup weekend before the Four Hills Tournament.
Geiger only finished 22nd in the snowy mountainous landscape of Engelberg on Saturday. His buddy Markus Eisenbichler only came in 27th when Slovenian Anze Lanisek won. As the best German, Andreas Wellinger flew to sixth place in an atmospheric competition with numerous enthusiastic fans in the packed grandstands.
Geiger acidified
"It just stunk that I didn't catch the jump," said Geiger to his disappointment. "I realize that it's actually not that far away, but I can't get it onto the take-off table." With a view to the upcoming tasks, the jumping veteran said: "Sometimes things are better, sometimes worse. You just can't let yourself get down."
Geiger had actually shown increasing form recently. Last weekend he had given the German team the first and so far only podium of the winter with third place in Titisee-Neustadt. This time it was only enough for jumps of 124 and 129.5 meters. Even before the last competition before Christmas this Sunday (12.30 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport) on the Großtitlisschanze, one thing is certain: unlike last year, the Allgäu native will not be the top favorite at the start of the tour in his home country on December 29th.
So far this winter, his buddy Eisenbichler has been doing much worse than Geiger. The three-time world champion of 2019 is nowhere near his top form. The fact that ninth place is Eisenbichler's best result of the season so far shows how far the former champion jumper is from his actual potential. On Saturday he jumped 121 and 129.5 meters.
"Of course I'm not satisfied, but I have to take it as it is," said Eisenbichler. With a view to the start of the tour, he added: "I'm relaxed about Oberstdorf. It's a hill that I like. I can go there in the best shitty form and jump reasonably well and I can place in the top ten."
Wellinger was able to celebrate a place in the top ten on Saturday. The 2018 Olympic champion achieved his best result of the season so far. "I'm extremely happy. It was a huge step forward today," said the 27-year-old after his jumps of 137 and 139 meters. "The first jump was good, the second was really great again. That's how ski jumping should feel!"
Pius Paschke in eleventh place and Stephan Leyhe in 18th place also scored World Cup points for the German Ski Association team. Constantin Schmid was eliminated after the first round.
