Rain and at times strong, turning winds – yesterday Oberstdorf showed its unfriendly side for ski jumping. The qualification, which the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi won, could be pulled through with interruptions, for today’s opening competition of the 70th Four Hills Tournament (4.30 p.m. live on ORF 1) the weather prospects at the Schattenbergschanze are not better.
The Austrians were weatherproof insofar as all seven ÖSV eagles qualified for the knockout duels. The best was Stefan Kraft in seventh place (today against Gregor Deschwanden / Sui) immediately ahead of Jan Hörl (against Keiichi Sato / Jpn). “My jump was a bit violent,” said Kraft, pointing out that he had attacked too hard.
Thanks to Daniel Huber (11th) and Daniel Tschofenigg (12th), the Austrians made up a third of the first dozen. Huber in particular expressed himself as a fan of rainy conditions. “It’s like, we’re going into battle ??. If the others are already tainted, then put on the runner again and be even more motivated,” said the Salzburg native.
The first sampling of the favorites went to Kobayashi, who prevailed with almost five points ahead of the German local hero Karl Geiger and the two Norwegians Halvor Egner Granerud and Johann Andre Forfang.
Before the opening competition, the tour entourage brought three positive corona tests to light. As the Oberallgäu district office informed, no athletes were affected, but two media representatives and a member of the Estonian team. A PCR test is also mandatory for vaccinated and convalescent people in Oberstdorf. Fans have been banned from all four venues following the latest Omikron developments. At least no viewer has to be annoyed about rain.
Hayböck on the way back
For the time being, Michael Hayböck is not on the tour, who yesterday showed his form with a second place at the Continental Cup in Engelberg. After a spinal disc operation at the beginning of October, the 30-year-old celebrated a comeback in Switzerland this week. “My fitness can still be improved, but I’m really happy,” commented the Upper Austrian, who finished 19th in the first competition the day before. Hayböck would like to return to the World Cup at the third tour stop at the beginning of next week at Innsbruck’s Bergisel.
Tour for women
Peter Kruijer, President of the Four Hills Tournament, assumes that the traditional ski jumping series will also be available for women in the near future. “The four tour locations want the women’s Four Hills Tournament. There is a unanimous decision that you can start with it as soon as possible,” said the German.
There is not yet a specific start date. According to Kruijer, this could be the case in a year: “We would like to register it with the FIS in the spring and then start doing it next year. That is my dream.” At the same time, Kruijer admitted that there are still some unanswered questions.
Mario Stecher, sporting director of the ÖSV-Nordische, does not support these plans, since a separate women’s project with Villach and Ljubno is favored. In Slovenia, Sara Marita Kramer and Co will contest a New Year’s Eve tournament in knockout mode for the first time around the turn of the year.
Source: Nachrichten
