DrThe praise came from a certain mouth. “Karl did it very well. It was electrified.” National coach Stefan Horngacher knew exactly that this competition was going to be special for Karl Geiger. After all, his jump home was on the hill of his house in Schattenberg in Oberstdorf, a few hundred meters from his home. With a win like last year, he didn’t come this time. But more important than places are points in the battle for the Golden Eagle of the Four Hills Championship. It can be easily accounted for in the cross-border snowboarding scene. The difference in points divided by 1.8 gives the gap in metres.
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Jaeger, who has 295.9 points in his tour count, is 3.39 meters behind Ryoyo Kobayashi (302), who is now up to the favorites at the latest. The Japanese showed the competition his amazing ability spectrum with a brilliant second jump. 141m – This was the day when the clouds rolled over Oberstdorf again which made the very attractive and exciting competition a very special challenge. “I was happy to repeat the shortening time,” Jaeger said of the jury’s strategy of repeatedly sending single jumpers from the other gates to the boarding pass. Geiger jumped 131m, but narrowly lost anything to Kobayashi due to bonus points. “The jump was good, but it wasn’t as good as I could be.”
What Jaeger can do, he’ll still be able to make a massive appearance in the coming days. The search between places and countries continues at a high rate. Yesterday in Oberstdorf, today in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, then Innsbruck and for the final on Epiphany Day in Bischofshofen. “We’re going to Garmisch with a good feeling,” national team coach Horngacher said in his analysis later that evening. “It was a very good number today.”
The 52-year-old Tyrolean was delighted that two other athletes from his ambitious team, Marcus Eisenbechler (7th) and Stefan Leahy (ninth), made it to the top 10. Horngacher lamented the exclusion of Severin Freund, whose claim was criticized by the inspectors. “Severin was really upset. And the coach asked to understand that not only Germans, but other countries as well, work on materials intensively before and during the flight. You have to be at the limit when it comes to suits, otherwise you won’t have a chance,” Horngacher said. .
Does Geiger stand a chance of winning the Four Hills Tournament? naturally. Nothing is lost, everything is still possible. “Carl was very nervous. He had mastered a difficult situation admirably,” said the national coach, who knew he was already preparing for imitation.
