Ski jumping: Strong duo: Wellinger wins, Paschke not a one-hit wonder

Andreas Wellinger showed the winning fist, Pius Paschke was very cool about his yellow jersey: The German ski jumpers dominated the crazy World Cup weekend in Ruka, Finland. Wellinger celebrated his first win of the season in the competition, which was canceled early due to turbulent wind conditions. Surprise high-flyer Paschke defended his lead in the overall World Cup with seventh place one day after first place. The two ensure an almost perfect start to the World Cup winter.

National coach: “He is the worthy winner today”

“It was awesome,” Wellinger commented on his winning jump of 146.5 meters on ZDF. Because the competition was ended in the middle of the second round for safety reasons, the result after one attempt counted. Wellinger left the waiting room at the jump with a smile and enjoyed the award ceremony together with his third-placed teammate Karl Geiger. “He is the worthy winner today,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher.

Wellinger improves from competition to competition. While last year’s tour runner-up was certainly to be expected among the absolute best in the world, Paschke’s achievements to date have astonished the ski jumping world.

Photos with Santa Claus

Even Santa Claus congratulated everyone on the grandiose and miraculous start to the season. Smiling, Paschke posed for souvenir photos next to his white beard and red robe. The start of winter must seem like a dream to the ski jumping oldie, even if Paschke appears calm and calm on the outside.

Second individual victory on the second World Cup weekend, three podium places in four competitions: The 34-year-old and Wellinger are already encouraging for the Four Hills Tournament in less than a month.

Paschke: “It’s like childhood”

“I’m just having a lot of fun jumping,” said Paschke on ZDF. “It’s like childhood,” he explained. Everything works, feels easy. Through meticulous and calm work, Paschke earned his place in the German A team over the years. But it was not to be expected that he would once again become the focus of attention as he became an older athlete.

“It’s a special story with him. I’m incredibly happy about that,” said sports director Horst Hüttel. It is becoming increasingly clear that the strong start to the season last weekend, which also included a win in the mixed team, was no coincidence. Paschke is not a one-hit wonder.

“I hope that he can get used to the yellow jersey. It won’t always go that way, but we have done everything to ensure that his top form lasts as long as possible,” said Horngacher. And the unfamiliar spotlight actually doesn’t seem to make Paschke nervous. The police chief from Kiefersfelden enjoys his successes in silence and just keeps going. Paschke runs his program routinely – at an extremely high level.

With their strong performances, the father and Wellinger also help their teammates. The successes ensure that no one currently talks about it when things aren’t going so well for others. Just like on Sunday with Markus Eisenbichler, Stephan Leyhe and Adrian Tittel. They were all eliminated early.