Only Kraft better: Germans take top places in Ruka
The German ski jumpers have started the World Cup winter with a strong team performance and a great success. In the flurry of flakes in Ruka, veteran Pius Paschke surprisingly finished in second place.
After jumps of 142 and 142.5 meters, the Bavarian was only beaten by the outstanding Austrian Stefan Kraft (144 and 143 meters). Behind him, Stephan Leyhe finished in third place. Qualification winner Andreas Wellinger completed an outstanding German team result in fourth place.
"Things are going really well"
"We've already tweaked a few things. We haven't lost our ski jumping philosophy. The boys are in top shape. Things are going really well. We have a great team atmosphere, it's going well," said national coach Stefan Horngacher on ARD. Behind the strong trio of Paschke, Leyhe and Wellinger, Philipp Raimund also impressed in seventh place, Karl Geiger in eleventh and Martin Hamann in twelfth. In the meantime, four Germans had led the classification in the first run.
Some of the top athletes fared worse. Last year's overall World Cup winner Halvor Egner Granerud from Norway did not make it past 16th place. Poland's ski jumping icon Kamil Stoch was 43rd and had no chance at all. Another individual event is scheduled for Sunday.
Unity is the Horngacher team's greatest asset. The team was so strong in preparation that there was no room for former individual world champion Markus Eisenbichler. For the ski jumpers, it is a season without the Nordic World Ski Championships and without the Winter Olympics. The highlights are the Four Hills Tournament around the turn of the year and the Ski Flying World Championships at Kulm in Austria in January.
- Pius Paschke, despite being a veteran in ski jumping, managed to secure a surprising second place in the World Cup event in Ruka, only being outperformed by Stefan Kraft from Austria.
- Germany had a remarkable performance in the World Cup winter sports, with Andreas Wellinger, who won the qualification, completing the outstanding team result in fourth place after Stefan Kraft, Stephan Leyhe, and Pius Paschke.
- Stefan Kraft, who finished first with jumps of 144 and 143 meters, has been a consistent performer, while Pius Paschke, Stephan Leyhe, and Andreas Wellinger have also shown their form, with Philipp Raimund, Karl Geiger, and Martin Hamann also impressing in their respective positions.
Source: www.dpa.com
