First World Cup winner in the team

The parachutists of the Bundeswehr Sports Promotion Group in Altenstadt have already won a lot.

But the team achieved a special premiere at the latest World Cup final in Locarno.

Altenstadt - It's hard to believe, but despite all the top placements in recent years, the parachutists of the Bundeswehr sports promotion group Altenstadt have not yet won the team championship in the World Cup.

Third place in 2019 was the best result in the target jumping.

The Altenstadters were fourth on the podium three times (2010/2012/2016).

Five years ago it was particularly bitter when only five points were missing from bronze - with a total of 820 points.

In any case, the time to wait is over: At the final World Cup in Locarno (Switzerland), the first team made the overall victory perfect

A second place among 35 teams was enough for the Germans.

In the end, they were five points ahead of two Czech military jump teams in the overall standings.

Equal centimeters to the very end

In the fight for the day's victory, the Altenstadters dueled with an Italian military team. Before the last lap, both were tied with a difference of 37 centimeters. The five Italians jumped first - together they came to a deviation of eight centimeters. Sergeant Major Christoph Zahler and Sergeant Robin Griesheimer "both showed nerves", as it says in a message. Both landed three centimeters from absolute zero. The two sergeant major Christian Kautzmann and Kai Erthel each came to a deviation of one centimeter. The Altenstadter had reached eight centimeters - and Sergeant Stefan Wiesner had not even landed. The multiple world champion finally landed exactly on the zero point. Both teams were tied again.In such a case, the results of the individual rounds are used. The Italians had a “two” (in lap seven) as the best result, the Altenstadter a “three” (in lap four). The “CISM Italy” team thus won the competition in Locarno. Since the Czech teams ended up in fourth and seventh place, they could no longer overtake the sports promotion group in the overall standings.

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Shared joy: Tatjana Gustke (left) and the Swiss Erica Franz (center) are tied for first in the overall standings.

Third on the right, Julia Schosser (AUT).

© SpFördGrp Bw Altenstadt

In the individual evaluations there were also pleasing, in some cases historical, results for the Altenstadters.

With fourth place in the daily standings (five centimeters deviation), Wiesner secured victory in the overall men's World Cup for the third time in a row.

Bad Kohlgruber has already won the rating seven times at the end of the year - nobody else has achieved anything similar.

Team mate Erthel, sixteenth in Locarno (nine centimeters deviation), took second place.

Two German jumpers on an overall World Cup podium "have never existed before," said the Altenstadter.

The women were very excited: The Swiss Erica Franz landed in Locarno in second place (9), one place ahead of the Bundeswehr jumper Tatjana Gustke (11).

For the overall World Cup ranking, this meant that both were tied and won gold together.

For Sergeant Gustke it was the second overall World Cup success after 2019.

At the time, she was the first German to have done that.

There was no series in 2020 because of the corona pandemic.

As with the men, two Altenstadters stood on the podium in the juniors (up to 24 years of age): Griesheimer came second, Sergeant Leon This won bronze.

In Locarno this had given the overall World Cup winner Sebastian Graser (Austria) a tough fight for the day's victory.

Both came to a difference of nine centimeters, Graser won because of the larger number of "zeros".

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Premiere: For the first time, two Germans were in the lead in the overall individual ranking of the World Cup.

The photo shows (from left) Kai Erthel (2nd), Stefan Wiesner (1st) and the Czech Miloslav Kriz (3rd).

© SpFördGrp Bw Altenstadt

But not only the sports promotion group delivered remarkable achievements at the end of the World Cup.

Sascha Lasotta from Schongau, formerly also a member of the sports promotion group and now with the "Paratec Factory Team", shone in the individual ranking of men in Switzerland with third place.

After eight laps he had a deviation of only four centimeters (five "zeros").

A jumper from Qatar and Italy shared the victory with three centimeters each.

The women and men of the sports promotion group achieved a total of 26 podium places (9 x gold / 11 x silver / 6 x bronze) in the past World Cup season with five events in Central Europe.

Chief Sergeant Wolfgang Lehner, who looked after the 13 Bundeswehr jumpers on site, spoke of an "unprecedented success".

Together with the second trainer, Sergeant Elischa Weber, he now wants to prepare the athletes specifically for the season highlight, the 44th Military World Championship in Doha / Qatar in November.