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Stefan Kraft takes his 60th World Cup victory

The German ski flyers played no part in the second individual competition 

"Let's see if we can get him right by tomorrow," national coach Stefan Horngacher said yesterday about Karl Geiger after his totally botched performance on the Heini-Klopfer-skiflying hill. The man from Oberstdorf had failed to qualify. Things went better in the second individual competition and after the qualification, in which he cracked the 200 metre mark, the local hero was able to smile a little again. However, the 31-year-old didn't make friends with his home hill at this ski flying event either. In the end, he finished in penultimate place.

Stefan Kraft (AUT) claimed his 60th World Cup victory with flights of 224 and 217 metres. Peter Prevc put on a great flying show at the end of his career. In his last two flights in Oberstdorf, he reached distances of 223.5 and 224 metres and soared to second place for the second time. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) finally woke up from the fatigue he had been complaining about for the last few days on the second day of the individual competition. Jumps of 224 and 215 metres took him to third place.

Andreas Wellinger was again the best German with 7th place (221.5 m and 213.5 m). However, the man from Ruhpolding had expected more from ski flying in Oberstdorf based on his performance in the World Cup so far. The national coach was unhappy with the performance of the other Germans. Pius Paschke finished 17th and Philipp Raimund had to make do with 26th place. Stephan Leyhe didn’t make it through qualification.

A total of 30,000 enthusiastic spectators watched the competitions over three days, which presented the organisers with a huge task in view of the bad weather in the run-up to the World Cup weekend. The work of the 750 volunteers was praised from all sides. There will be a reunion at the Heini-Klopfer-skiflying hill in the coming season, as a Ski Flying World Cup is due to take place again in 2025. In 2026 Oberstdorf will then host the Ski Flying World Championships for the seventh time.

Slovenian double success in the Individual

The victory in the team competition on Friday was followed the next day by a double success in the individual competition for Slovenia at the Ski Flying World Cup in Oberstdorf. For the third time at the Heini-Klopfer-skiflying hill, Timi Zajc left his competitors behind. Two 230 metre jumps were enough for the 23-year-old to win. His team-mate Peter Prevc came second with 230.5 and 232 metres. The 31-year-old was still in the lead after the first round. The reigning ski flying world champion Stefan Kraft (Austria) finished in third place with 220 and 225.5 metres. The best German ski flyer was runner-up Andreas Wellinger (219.5 and 223 metres) in 6th place.

The other places of the German competitors: 14th Philipp Raimund, 21st Pius Paschke, 23rd Stephan Leyhe, 27th Felix Hoffmann.

Perfect day for Slovenia

Timi Zajc and Domen Prevc win ahead of the teams from Norway and Austria

At the premiere of the super team competition, 6500 enthusiastic spectators witnessed an impressive demonstration of ski flying in Oberstdorf on Friday afternoon. After training and qualification had to be cancelled the day before due to strong winds, the two training jumps were made up for on Friday. Even then, the top ski flyers showed off their skills. 

Timi Zajc had a great day with 223 and 233.5 metres. But his team-mate, the hill record holder from 2022, Domen Prevc, also left his mark with 222.5 and 229 metres, meaning that first place went to the two-jumper team from Slovenia (884.5 points). Second place went to Norway (861.3 points) with Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (208.0/223 metres) and Johann Andre Forfang (220.5/231.5 metres). The two Austrians Michael Hayböck (210.5/235) and the reigning individual ski flying world champion Stefan Kraft (233/218.5) had to be content with third place (855.7 points). 

The German duo Pius Paschke/Andreas Wellinger finished in sixth place (828.5 points). The 25th World Cup will continue on Saturday and Sunday with two individual competitions on the Heini-Klopfer-skiflying hill. While Saturday is already sold out with 15,000 spectators, tickets for Sunday are still available.

The other placings at a glance: 4. Japan 845.2 points (Ren Nikaido/Ryoyo Kobayashi), 5. Poland 837.8 points (Piotr Zyla/Aleksander Zniszczol), 7. USA 777.1 points (Tate Frantz/Erik Belshaw), 8. Italy 774.9 points (Alex Insam/Giovanni Bresadola), 9. Finland 763.7 points (Eetu Nousiainen/Niko Kytosaho), 10. Switzerland 707.5 points (Gregor Deschwanden/Remo Imhof), 11. Ukraine 667.4 points (Vitaly Kalinichenko/Yevhen Marusiak), 12. France 620.9 points (Jules Chervet/Valentin Foubert).



Apprentices from Swabia meet ski jumper Karl Geiger 

Special event organized by the Chamber of Crafts Swabia in cooperation with the Oberstdorf Ski Club 

A total of around 400 trainees from almost 100 craft businesses throughout Swabia were at the Oberstdorf ski flying hill yesterday, Thursday, to watch the ski flying qualification with Karl Geiger and his teammates. Unfortunately, the event had to be canceled due to strong winds. However, the trainees and their bosses did not let this spoil their mood. The company Fischer Haustechnik from Kronburg near Memmingen came to Oberstdorf with a total of 13 trainees. Managing Director Reinhald Beggel: "It's a shame that it had to be canceled after all, but it's still a great trip for me and my trainees." Carina Mayer, a trainee at Fischer Haustechnik, was very impressed by the backdrop: "I find it quite overwhelming how big the ski flying hill actually is. It doesn't come across like that on TV."

Karl Geiger: "It's cool that so many trainees are here."

The trainees were lucky that Karl Geiger spontaneously took the time to have a photo taken with them. Niko Huter, also an apprentice at Fischer Haustechnik: "It was great to see him in real life and up close. That doesn't happen every day. It was really great." Karl Geiger, who comes from a family with a carpentry business, was delighted to see so many young spectators from the skilled trades. "It's cool that so many trainees are here and want to watch me do my craft. I think that's great." Focusing on the connection between sport and craftsmanship, Geiger says: "Even though ski jumping is a somewhat strange craft, unlike a carpenter, for example, there are a lot of similarities. Above all, you have to be consistent and stick to it in order to be successful. The most important thing is that you do what you enjoy. And I would recommend every young person to do an apprenticeship first and not go to university straight away if they have the opportunity. The skilled trades offer so many opportunities, including self-employment. And you can still go to university later."

Reinhald Beggel and his trainees were in a great mood even after the ski flying event was finally canceled. He then spontaneously invited his young colleagues to go bowling. After the great response from the companies and their trainees, the Chamber of Crafts wants to invite them to the ski flying event again next year together with the Oberstdorf Ski Club. Then certainly with better luck with the weather.