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Ski flight
Norway won the gold medal in the team competition at the World Ski Flight Championships in Planica. The quartet with Daniel-Andre Tande, Johann Andre Forfang, Robert Johansson and Halvor Egner Granerud relegated the German team around individual world champion Karl Geiger to second place. The Polish team came third. The weakened Austrians did not pass the sixth place.
Philipp Aschenwald, Gregor Schlierenzauer, Timon-Pascal Kahofer and Michael Hayböck missed the medal standings by more than 240 points on Sunday. The main reason for this was, in addition to the mostly boring flights, a short 129.5m from understudy Kahofer in the first round.
In the absence of world record holder Stefan Kraft (back problems) and Daniel Huber (coronavirus quarantine), the Austrians had to accept the worst team result in World Cup history since 2004. In 2018, they finished fifth.
Exciting decision
The decision of the title of the team competition was dramatic and was strongly influenced by the decisions of the Austrian coaches Alexander Stöckl (Norway) and Stefan Horngacher Germany).
At first Stöckl shortened by two hatches before his final jump, Halvor Egner Granerud nevertheless sailed at 234.5 meters and thus secured many bonus points for gate compensation. Horngacher chose the same hatch, but individual world champion Geiger “only” reached 224.5, which was too little to make up for, with the title being snatched from the previously leading Germans.
ÖSV eagles don’t stand a chance
The Austrians had no chance, not just because of the rookie’s first failed jump at the Kahofer World Cup. Only Hayböck could be satisfied after his flights at 223.5 and 231 meters. “It was very unexpected that he can fly so well and fight for the medals,” said Hayböck, who, like former world champions Schlierenzauer and Aschenwald, made it to the World Cup immediately after a CoV infection. However, on the last day he also noticed that the necessary substance was still missing, according to Hayböck in the ORF interview.
Due to the coronavirus situation beforehand and the failures of Kraft and Huber, the poor performance of the team can be explained. “It was clear that the initial situation was difficult,” emphasized Hayböck, who is still waiting for the team to regain strength before the Four Hills Tournament. “We certainly won’t let them get us out of there. We will regain our strength and attack in the World Cup ”. The last stop before the tour is Engelberg next weekend.
