Hole in Wellinger's ski jumping suit causes a stir
Andreas Wellinger has German ski jumping fans dreaming of their first tour triumph in over 20 years. But with a bit of bad luck, the opening winner would have been disqualified in qualifying: because of a hole in his suit. According to Wellinger, however, this only occurred after landing.
The day after his victory in the opening competition of the Four Hills Tournament, Andreas Wellinger is in the news. It's about a hole in his ski jumping suit, which could already be seen on TV on Thursday after the qualification in Oberstdorf. Material inspector Christian Kathol told the Norwegian TV station NRK: "If he had been with me and I had seen the suit, he would have been disqualified."
No federation subsequently lodged a protest against Wellinger, who had already won the qualification before the main competition. The topic only came up in Germany this Saturday after Wellinger's victory in the first tour competition on Schattenberg. A disqualification would have meant that the Olympic champion would not have been at the start yesterday, Friday.
However, TV footage is said to show that the tear on his right armpit only occurred while he was cheering on the outrun of the hill. "It's because I celebrated too much after the jump," the 28-year-old Wellinger was quoted as saying by NRK. According to Kathol, who is checked after the qualification and who is not is decided at random.
So it remains the case that Wellinger goes into the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen as the hunted man. "That's a nice starting position," said the 2018 Olympic champion. Although his lead is small at the equivalent of 1.66 meters, Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi and Austria's Stefan Kraft, who has dominated the season so far, are breathing down Wellinger's neck - but he is currently brimming with confidence.
"The challenge for me now is to continue jumping in the same way," said Wellinger: "If I do that, then anything is possible." It's hard to imagine what would happen if Wellinger were to actually win the tour. Of the 25 most recent winners in Oberstdorf, "only" 12 have gone on to win the overall standings. But of course Wellinger's success fuels the dream that there will finally be another German triumph in the prestigious series after Sven Hannawald in 2001/02.
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Source: www.ntv.de
