The 25,000 ski jumping fans in the completely sold-out Allgäu Arena in Oberstdorf were amazed when defending champion Halvor Egner Granerud withdrew from the race for the Golden Eagle in the first round of the tournament’s opening competition. The 27-year-old Norwegian landed in 48th place in Nirvana with a 105.5-meter jump and was then completely dismayed: “I’m empty, that’s a big blow,” said the reigning overall World Cup winner, who had slipped into a form crisis -Champion.
Others write the story of the 72nd traditional German-Austrian event around the turn of the year. For example, Andreas Wellinger, the Red Bull driver who celebrated an acclaimed home success with distances of 139.5 and 128 meters. The 28-year-old finished three points ahead of the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi (134.5/129 m) and 10.4 ahead of World Cup leader Stefan Kraft, who gained a solid starting position with 132.5 and 125 meters.
“A great start. It was very exciting with a brilliant atmosphere. Hats off to Andi Wellinger for bringing it down. I’m happy that I’m on the podium,” said the 30-year-old, who has a compact ÖSV team led. “Ten points behind is okay, ski jumping happens so quickly,” says Kraft.
Image: APA/AFP/KERSTIN JOENSSON
Jan Hörl came eighth (24.2 points back), Michael Hayböck from Thening, who was in fifth place at halftime, came tenth (-27.9 points). Manuel Fettner ended up in 13th place, Clemens Aigner was 19th ahead of Daniel Tschofenig.
Wellinger outshone everyone under the floodlights on Schattenberg: “It’s unbelievable, I’m super happy and proud of the day,” said the man from Traunstein happily.
Bad memories of Garmisch
Now the “Adler” entourage is moving to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the New Year’s competition will take place on Monday (2 p.m., ORF 1). The Austrians have been waiting for a victory on the Olympic ski jump for ten years.
Thomas Diethart triumphed in 2014, Kraft’s memories are of a negative nature. In 2018 and 2019, the Pongauer missed the second round of the best 30, in 2021 he came 28th, and in 2023 he ended up in 18th position. Not enough for his high standards. “That’s in the past, I don’t worry regarding it,” said Kraft.
The ladies of the air will be going over the Bakken in Garmisch on Saturday (5.45 p.m., ORF 1), and the so-called “Two Nights Tour” will conclude on January 1st (4.15 p.m., ORF 1) in Oberstdorf. “I hope that a lot of fans come. We’ll make sure we put on a good show,” said Eva Pinkelnig. Austria’s Athlete of the Year 2023 and defending World Cup champion is making her comeback following knee irritation. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (SC Waldzell) and Julia Mühlbacher (ASVÖ SC Höhnhart) are also there.
A la longue, there will also be a Four Hills Tournament for the ladies – with Austrian venues. “We hope that at some point we will create a great product,” emphasized Mario Stecher, the sporting director at ÖSV. The current problem: There is no floodlights on Innsbruck’s Bergisel (yet), which is why the time window is currently too small to accommodate men and women together.
Author
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
Alexander Zambarloukos
