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Fallen violinist: "In the end the battery was pretty empty."
Photo: Matthias Schrader / dpa
Karl Geiger and Severin Freund fell, Markus Eisenbichler was even disqualified: The German ski jumpers completely failed the first weekend after the Four Hills Tournament.
The weakest individual competition of the season on Saturday with only two top 20 places was followed by a disappointing sixth place in the team event in Bischofshofen.
“I really have enough now.
I'm already a bit fed up, it's almost a camp fever.
It's nice when you come home now and have a little peace, "said Eisenbichler after grueling days and weeks on the ARD.
Geiger also admitted: "In the end the battery was pretty empty."
The focus was on fourth place on the tour: Geiger was eighth in the individual - with his second-weakest result in the Olympic winter, he was still the best DSV eagle.
On Sunday, the second of the overall World Cup fell in the wild snowstorm.
Geiger was uninjured, but received significant point deductions.
With that, the hoped-for podium was a long way off.
“It just didn't go smoothly this weekend. Everyone is at their limit, ”said national coach Stefan Horngacher. The grueling tour ended only on Thursday in Bischofshofen, and after only one day of rest, the teams continued seamlessly. "I think the boys are exhausted," said ARD expert Sven Hannawald.
A "strange" disqualification
In the individual, Geiger had no chance of the podium in the first win of the season by Norwegian Marius Lindvik. “That was a difficult competition with a strong tailwind. The grenade wasn't there, ”said the 28-year-old. This also increased Geiger's (817 points) deficit in the overall World Cup on the leading tour winner Ryoyu Kobayashi (891) from Japan, who came fourth.
There was a gap behind Geiger: In the weakest competition of the season, Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger followed as the second-best German in 19th place.
"That wasn't a good day for us," said Horngacher, and when asked if the air was out, he replied: "For us, yes, unfortunately not for the others."
Eisenbichler was even disqualified because of a non-compliant suit.
That was “strange,” said Horngacher: “Germany is very, very often in control.
I don't know exactly why. «For the same reason, ex-world champion Severin Freund had already been taken out of the competition during the jumping tour in Oberstdorf.
On Saturday there was another setback for Freund with a fall.
One day later the next disappointment followed for Geiger, Eisenbichler, Wellinger and Constantin Schmid.
On the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze, where a team competition took place for the first time in World Cup history, it was only sixth among the eight teams with 943.1 points.
Geiger's fall in the first half dashed all hopes early on.
"Karl has apologized, but he doesn't have to," said Olympic champion Wellinger.
The victory went to the host and World Cup runner-up Austria (1015.5) ahead of Japan (1006.4) and the Olympic champion Norway (1006.2).
bka / sid
