DThere is no such thing as a perfect ski jumper, says Sven Hannawald. But those that are close to perfection. Andreas Wellinger managed to show an almost perfect jump at the 72nd Four Hills Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which ends this Saturday. But then the landing came.
Hannawald, the first Grand Slam winner in tour history, has been waiting for the Golden Eagle to finally come back to Germany for 22 years. After the third stage on Innsbruck's Bergisel, Wellinger is a manageable 2.66 meters behind first place in the overall classification and now has the chance to make a bold move. Only one person can ruin his big dream: Ryoyu Kobayashi.
“Like a bird”
So the little big Japanese. The stylist and virtuoso of the air. The man “who flies like a bird,” as Wellinger raved years ago. Kobayashi, now 27 years old, has secretly, quietly and quietly put himself in an excellent position. He neither won the opening competition in Oberstdorf nor managed to be top in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck.
But the addition of his consistently strong performances has brought him back to the top. Second, second, second. It cannot be ruled out that Kobayashi will also come second in the final in Bischofshofen – and still win the tour. The last person to achieve this feat came from Finland and was one of the icons of the fascinating outdoor sport of ski jumping: Janne Ahonen. That happened on the 1998/1999 tour.
The German ski jumping world champion Martin Schmitt follows the aerial artist scene as a profound expert for Eurosport. The Black Forester does not assume that Kobayashi will put everything on one card at the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze. “In Bischofshofen he won’t go for the day’s victory by any chance,” says the 45-year-old. “He wants the gold eagle. He will position himself for that.”
“Feels things that no one else feels”
Kobayashi is an expert. In 2019, after Sven Hannawald in 2002 and Kamil Stoch in 2018, he was the third ski jumper to win all four individual competitions in the Four Hills Tournament. It's unique how he came into his stable flight system in seemingly perfect harmony immediately after jumping off the take-off table.
The Olympic ski jumping champion Toni Innauer, who worked as an expert for ZDF for a long time, enthused: “He feels things in the air that no one else feels.” The fact that the ultimate decision now comes in Bischofshofen of all places couldn’t have been dramaturgically better. Both Kobayashi and Wellinger describe Bischofshofen as their favorite ski jump. A flat approach that makes large distances possible. It is an airfield – and both the Japanese and the German are aviators.
Jump, fly, be amazed. What looks so easy is great art. Kobayashi is an artist. Someone who does great things with two long skis under his body. One of the keys to his success is ski guidance. As soon as Kobayashi takes off from the take-off table and goes into the flying position, both skis in the V position are flat.
“I do not drink coffee”
Anyone who gets on the podium has to talk. This is what the regulations of the Four Hills Tournament provide. The top three finishers after the four individual competitions have to go to the obligatory press conference. Also Kobayashi, who usually appears in monosyllables and has Markus Neitzel translate him.
Neitzel lived in Japan as an evangelical missionary for 13 years. He has become Kobayashi's German tour voice. It's actually a nice job, but Neitzel hardly has anything to do because Kobayashi is usually taciturn and sometimes listless. Sentences like “I’m very happy” or “I’m just thinking about my next jump” are conversation classics.
Kobayashi hardly lets anyone get close to him. When he was asked on New Year's Day to say something about his relationship with Wellinger when the two met for coffee, Koboyashi translated it as: “I don't drink coffee.”
Runaway? None. Posture grades? Always great. This was also the case on the difficult Bergisel, where the competition once again became a wind lottery. Kobayashi received exactly the same marks as Wellinger from the judges. “Ryoyu has performed extremely well again recently,” said the German about his big opponent. “He is a highly talented jumper. He knows what to do. Now I’m no longer the hunted, but the hunter,” said Wellinger. And promised: “I will attack and step on the pedal in Bischofshofen.”
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