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Karl Geiger
Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa
The basic mood was angry
: Karl Geiger was credited with a full 11.1 wind points after landing at 130 meters in the 1st round of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen New Year's jump.
No other jumper received a bigger bonus - Geiger had found the worst conditions of all athletes.
"He was a bit unlucky, but the jumps weren't as good as he can," said national coach Stefan Horngacher after seventh place in his formerly greatest tour hope, who is now 18 meters behind Dominator Ryoyu Kobayashi.
Geiger himself saw it similarly: "To be honest, I'm pissed off," the Oberstdorf resident defined his "basic mood" - a little because of the wind, a little on himself: "I have to grab my own nose and say: It can be done better . "
The result:
Kobayashi once again showed how things can be done better: The Japanese is so far the only top jumper who consistently calls up his best performances on the tour. With 291.2 points, the tour and four-time daily winner of the 2018/2019 season prevailed very gently ahead of Markus Eisenbichler (291.0 points), while the Slovenian Lovro Kos surprised in third place (286.0 points). Read the report on the competition here.
Welcome back, Schlieri:
Gregor Schlierenzauer's career is a curious one: at a young age the Austrian jumped everything short and sweet, won more world cups than ski jumping legend Matti Nykänen - and then not a single one in the second half of his career. In the summer, »Schlieri« officially ended, in Garmisch the 31-year-old, who won the New Year's competition three times, supported the ZDF as an expert - and was sad: »It hurts a little. With the nice weather, on my favorite hill. "
The first round:
Two talented Slovenes presented early - and won their direct duels against the German Pius Paschke and Severin Freund: Lovro Kos, who already landed surprisingly far ahead in Oberstdorf, jumped 135.5 meters, Timi Zajc, who jumped in the opening competition even more surprisingly failed in the qualification, flew to 137 meters. Those who jumped this mark were also allowed to have ambitions in the overall ranking.
One who made it was Marius Lindvik (138 meters) from Norway, who had to skip the New Year's jump last year due to dental problems, but won the day in 2020.
At the end Ryoyu Kobayashi pulverized this distance, jumped 143 meters - and first saw his brother Junshiro's fall from the valley, then Eisenbichler's near fall, who struggled to set the telemark cleanly at 141 meters.
Duel of the giants aD:
The second
pair of
jumpers couldn't have been more prominent
: Last
year's winner Dawid Kubacki from Poland was defeated in the direct duel by Halvor Egner Granerud, the Norwegian was second on the Olympic hill in 2021.
That was not a surprise, Kubacki, like the entire Polish team, is in a crisis of form.
What was more astonishing was that Granerud also managed only a mediocre distance, as in the qualification.
128 meters meant 15 meters less than Kobayashi would later conjure up in the snow - and probably also the premature end of Granerud's hopes for overall tour victory.
The second run:
In the second run Granerud managed at least the hoped-for damage limitation, 140.5 meters made for a big leap forward.
Further - so far that only half a meter was missing from Kubacki's hill record from the previous year - it was only then for Eisenbichler, who jumped 143.5 meters and even Kobayashi lost eight meters.
However, this also had to do with the fact that the hatch was shortened in front of the Japanese.
So Kobayashi could not only count on bonus points, but thanks to the shorter width, he could stand the jump more confidently and perfectly than Eisenbichler.
In the end, it was the posture marks that made the difference between the winner of the day and the runner-up.
The new challengers:
Of the three expected tour favorites Kobyashi, Geiger and Granerud, only the Japanese is left at halftime.
The predetermined breaking point is yet to come: Bergisel in Innsbruck, who is susceptible to wind, can make more dreams burst on Tuesday (2 p.m., TV: ZDF / Eurosport).
The "wild dog" (Toni Innauer) Eisenbichler (about 11.5 meters back), the tour surprise Kos (ten meters back) and the aviator Lindvik, who is the equivalent of just under 7.5 meters, are lurking for a slip by Kobayashi The residue is most likely within striking distance of Kobayashi.