Ski jumping - "Dismantled himself": Toughest phase for Eisenbichler
Things are going badly for Markus Eisenbichler right now. While the World Cup team around his friend Karl Geiger is starting the Christmas week full of anticipation, the six-time ski jumping world champion has to make friends with his role as a reserve.
Geiger, Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke have a serious chance of winning the first German Four Hills Tournament since 2002, but not 32-year-old Eisenbichler, who is currently unable to compete even in the second-tier Continental Cup.
As if the sporting crisis wasn't challenging enough, the talented flyer from Siegsdorf in Bavaria is also taking a verbal beating just before the festive season. National coach Stefan Horngacher made it surprisingly clear at the weekend in Engelberg what he thinks of Eisenbichler's development.
"It's incomprehensible to me that he can't put anything together at all," said Horngacher, who was able to count on Eisenbichler as a top performer for years. That's not the case at all this winter. "He often overplays a lot of things. We need to talk about where the journey is going. Performance counts, that's just the way it is. It doesn't matter how many medals you have at home." Horngacher did not offer the veteran the prospect of a return, and public words of encouragement and appreciation were also sought in vain.
Debates about training
Eisenbichler's slump came relatively unexpectedly. In the fall, he was still one of the hopes of the German team with his aggressive jumping style. German ski jumping legend Sven Hannawald reacted with incomprehension. "From the outside, I really don't understand what the problem is and why he's dismantling himself like this. He craps out in the competition. These are personal things where you have a lot of question marks from the outside," Hannawald told the German Press Agency.
Eisenbichler recently finished 14th, 23rd, 16th and 26th in four competitions in the Continental Cup. For Horngacher, this is the result of various difficulties. "He had a bit too many problems in the summer: with his knee, he was repeatedly injured, and also with his training. We also advised him not to do that, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. He really wanted to go through with it."
Eisenbichler had taken a few liberties. "He probably also made a few mistakes," Horngacher noted critically. Eisenbichler is with the federal police.
"In his own world"
In sporting terms, Eisenbichler's absence is hardly noticeable at the moment. Karl Geiger had to look for a new room partner, the team's internal Schafkopf round is becoming increasingly difficult without professionals like Eisenbichler. "We actually have a lot of contact, we write a lot and talk on the phone. We're not just roommates, we also develop a friendship over the years," said Geiger, who now shares a room with youngster Philipp Raimund.
Eisenbichler is not expected to return to the A team quickly. The sometimes somewhat unpredictable Bavarian spoke openly about thoughts of ending his career even before his crisis. "I think for Markus it depends on his character and how he deals with the situation. He's always been in his own world, so he's not comparable," said Hannawald.
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Source: www.stern.de
