EA disqualification of silver winner Katharina Althaus brought Germany a disappointing exit from the Olympic ski jumping mixed team. Because the jump of the 25-year-old was missing in the ranking, the quartet made up of Selina Freitag, Constantin Schmid, Althaus and Karl Geiger didn’t even make it into the second round. The reason for the disqualification was a suit that did not conform to the rules one day after the sporting defeat of Geiger’s men. At first there were no more details.
Until the shock news, Germany was heading for a medal. Also because before Althaus the Japanese Sara Takanashi and the Austrian Daniela Iraschko-Stolz were disqualified. Their suits were later briefly declared to be compliant with the rules. It was a confusing hustle and bustle at the Winter Games in Zhangjiakou, at times no one saw through.
Only favorite Slovenia steered confidently through the first round and initially led without any major problems. For Germany, a famous winning streak ended: in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 the world championship titles were won in this discipline. At the Olympic premiere of the competition, it shouldn’t be anything.
With the exception of silver winner Althaus, the two individual competitions were a disappointment. Especially the men around the overall World Cup leader Geiger fell far short of the high expectations. The man from the Allgäu did not get better than 15th place and seemed helpless and depressed in the ice-cold outrun of the modern Olympic facility: “I failed, but that’s the way it is. I’d rather fail with total determination than try something half-lazy. So I can’t blame myself for anything.”
It was even worse for buddy and roommate Markus Eisenbichler. As 31st, he not only missed the second round, but also the additional chance for a medal in mixed. The first weekend at the Games in China had already indicated that the normal hill at Zhangjiakou was just not going well. While the games for the women around Althaus are over, Geiger & Co. still have two more chances to win a medal on the large facility.
#Ski #jumping #Olympics #Althaus #disqualified #German #mixed #team #eliminated