Andreas Wellinger also floated in the air over Garmisch-Partenkirchen – and all the way to the winner’s podium.
Photo: imago/Sven Simon
Andreas Wellinger has had a lot to celebrate lately. Sometimes that even causes problems for him, like recently after his qualifying victory in Oberstdorf. Afterwards, the Norwegian TV station NRK discovered a hole under the armpit in the German high-flyer’s jump suit in a still photo of the cheering German. A clear violation of the rules, which, according to material controller Christian Kathol, would actually have resulted in disqualification. If Wellinger had been checked – which, like a protest from another team, failed to materialize.
The spectacular triumph of the double Olympic champion in the opening competition of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament was literally hanging by a thread. »We have a flexible fabric with a normal thread from the sewing machine. Everyone knows this from their pants or a T-shirt: it tears at some point,” explained Wellinger. »It was just stupid at that moment. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I just have to cheer a little less.”
Maybe that’s why Wellinger only cautiously raised his arm after landing at the New Year’s jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in front of 21,000 enthusiastic spectators in the sold-out arena – even though he finished third at the ski jumpers’ traditional start to the New Year for the first time in his career with 291.4 points had flown onto the podium. Two were a little better on this dramatic day: The Slovenian Anže Lanišek triumphed with 295.8 points ahead of the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi (292.6), Wellinger’s main competitor for the first German overall victory in 22 years at the Four Hills Tournament.
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At the halfway point of the ski jumping Grand Slam, everything boils down to a dramatic duel between Wellinger and Kobayashi: The German high-flyer takes just 1.8 points – the equivalent of exactly one meter – ahead into the third competition of the tour in Innsbruck on Wednesday . The third-placed Austrian Stefan Kraft is almost hopelessly behind with 25.2 points. In any case, Wellinger travels to Austria with a grin: “It was a very good start to the new year, I still feel extremely good. Now I’m hoping for fair competitions in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen and then the best ski jumper should win. The motto is: keep going.«
After struggling with his landing in training and qualification, Wellinger showed strong nerves on the day of the decision and landed his flights brilliantly at 138 and 137.5 meters. In the dramatic final round, the wind changed constantly – there was a longer break before Kobayashi was the last jumper. The Japanese showed nerves and missed out on victory.
National coach Stefan Horngacher was extremely satisfied with his high-flyer Wellinger: “Andi jumped really well and, above all, landed – he did a great job. Of course he could have won, but we have a podium finish again. It’s a very close race on the tour – but we can actually win it this time.«
The German team once again showed a strong team performance in the New Year’s competition with five jumpers among the top 16. However, only Wellinger has a chance of winning the overall tour. Pius Paschke, the second-best German in the overall ranking, is already 47.6 points behind the leader from his own team and says: “We will continue to try to support him with even better jumps.”
It is no coincidence that the hole in Wellinger’s suit was discovered in Norway. After all, the Scandinavians have little reason to celebrate themselves. Last year, Halvor Egner Granerud triumphed on his way to overall victory in the New Year’s competition. This time, in 31st place, he missed the second round for the second time on this tour and has no chance.
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