The history of German ski jumping is also linked to a special mountain. The so-called Bergisel is not a large, powerful peak, nor an impressive rock. It rises more like a small hill in the south of Innsbruck, and plaques and books still remind us of the defeats and victories that the Austrian folk hero and freedom fighter Andreas Hofer once won here.
But ski jumpers have long since taken over Bergisel, where one of the first modern large ski jumping hills stood in 1923. But on the hill with the breathtaking view over Innsbruck, the ski jumpers from the German Ski Association (DSV) almost always lost; Richard Freitag achieved the last German victory on the Bergisel in 2015. But now there is hope again for the association.
The jumping in Innsbruck of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament offered an exciting final phase, because suddenly it couldn’t go any further. Due to the strong and unfair tailwind, the spectators were allowed to do rhythmic warm-up exercises around 25 minutes after the announcement by the stadium announcer, while the media workers watched nervously after the editorial deadline. Then it was finally time.
The last nine jumpers had brought their flights down. In the end, Ryoyu Kobayashi was the winner in the tour ranking. He now leads the overall standings by the equivalent of a good 2.5 meters. His pursuer Andreas Wellinger is just behind him, but still has a chance of winning the tour; the long ski jump in Bischofshofen might suit him better. The day’s victory went to the Austrian Jan Hörl.
The wind and the exposed jump in Innsbruck are causing difficulties for the jumpers
The qualification the day before had initially confirmed the legend of a Bergisel curse. The leader in the overall ranking up to that point, Andreas Wellinger, only qualified with a 15th place. However, Wellinger is less the type to be plagued by nightmares overnight, especially when he knows where the problems come from. The Ruhpoldinger had to deal with miserable wind conditions in the qualification.
Not only the gusts, but also the narrow and relatively short architecture of the exposed jump cause difficulties for the jumpers. In addition, the wind likes to fool you, and the jump also offers special features. There, Wellinger explained before saying goodbye in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, you have to be particularly concentrated. The position of the take-off table gives the jumpers the impression that there is a slight upward movement at the end of the table. If you react too quickly here, you will miss the crucial jumping off point and fall back down from your air cushion more quickly.
In any case, the German record of the past few years, alongside other Innsbruck ski jump problems and perhaps also psychological internal resistance, indicated that the Bergisel represents the biggest hurdle for national coach Stefan Horngacher’s team. The main thing, the Germans may have thought, is that things are not going as they have in the past eight years. Since 2016, Karl Geiger, Severin Freund, and Markus Eisenbichler have accumulated an accumulation of absurd crashes in the rankings and in the snow, due to poor conditions or poor concentration.
And actually things turned out differently, Wellinger’s qualities had still prevailed and a curse is just a curse, namely an imagination. The quality of Wellinger’s jumps, the ability to recover at night despite setbacks, these are all characteristics of a strengthened, self-confident competitive athlete.
A lead of 2.5 meters – that’s initially an advantage for Ryoyu Kobayashi, who jumps so accurately. On the other hand, Andreas Wellinger also solved his tasks and put in a strong series with his form. The tour is once again approaching a still open, real finale at the Epiphany jumping in Bischofshofen.