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Norway’s national jumping team defended the World Cup gold in ski flying. Now the coach of the national team Alexander Stöckl talks about the drama that unfolded in the coaching box.
On Saturday, Halvor Egner Granerud was defeated by 0.5 points in the World Cup individual competition in Planica by German Karl Geiger, but in Sunday’s team competition, Granerud together with Daniel-André Tande, Johann André Forfang and Robert Johansson were able to cheer for the gold.
It was again a very exciting competition where Germany led before the last lap, but on the last jump Granerud hit 234.5 meters.
The Norwegian also scored extra points after team coach Alexander Stöckl decided to send Granerud from two ledges lower than the jury had set.
World champion Geiger was unable to continue on his last jump. The German stretched only to 224.5 meters. Norway thus finally won the team competition with 19.2 points.
– A stroke of genius!
Former world champion Anders Bardal is very impressed with both Granerud and the national team coach Stöckl, who had the opportunity to slow down.
– It’s a tactical stroke of genius, says Bardal to Nettavisen.
– It is possible to do it with Granerud. You listen and see how confident he is. You can do whatever you want with him and don’t get confused as things are now, says Bardal, who adds that he believes the race was a good advertisement for the sport of jumping.
National team coach Stöckl says he was not sure for a long time whether he would dare to stop Granerud, but he was supported by assistant Magnus Brevig, who gave a clear message that they had to take action if they wanted to be able to fight. for the gold.
– I was very nervous and was not sure if this was going to go up, says Stöckl to Nettavisen.
But after assessing the situation and discussing it with his teammates in the coaches’ gallery, he decided to go down to the ledges.
– Then exactly what we expected to happen happened. Geiger got a little upset and Halvor returns to deliver a perfect ski jump. It also manages to make a good impact. The combination led us to take it. It’s great when it happens, says the Norwegian coach.
Stöckl adds that he feels like he could make that decision because he knows he has the whole team behind him, regardless of how it went.
Granerud himself was very pleased with how he and Stöckl solved the final decisive jump.
– I have no words to describe how good the jump felt, Granerud tells NRK.
– it’s a machine
Johansson is now praising Granerud for his achievement.
– It’s fun to follow during the day. It’s a machine, Johansson tells NRK.
– This is completely crude. We know that we are a strong team. Today he is fighting and we knew he could be fighting, but then Granerud comes with the last jump since boom ten and shows what he’s made of. You see he oozes confidence from him, says Johansson.
11.1 points behind after the first half
However, the competition was even for a long time and at halftime Norway was 11.1 points behind the Germans.
By then, Tande had landed at 227.5 meters, Forfang at 217 meters, Johansson at 220 meters and Granerud at 235 meters.
However, Germany was the best in the first round and world champion Karl Geiger especially impressed with the longest flight of the round of 238 meters.
Crushed forfang
In the second round, the Germans appeared to flee Norway when Forfang failed to vote with a jump of 202.5 meters. German Pius Paschke responded with 223.5 meters and assured the team of a good starting point before the last two jumps.
Forfang was clearly disappointed after the jump and threw his gear bag angrily onto the Plain of Planica.
However, the Tromsø jumper saw Johansson land at 229.5 meters and later Granerud at 234.5 meters.
Thus, Forfang was able to breathe a sigh of relief. However, he was still affected when he spoke to NRK after the gold was landed.
– It’s good to be part of the load. The only reason I feel like a winner today is because I’m in the best team in the world. Okay, but today there is a lot of emotion, says Forfang with tears in his eyes.
He was afraid he had ruined the team, but in the end it was the Norwegian gold.
– It’s delicious, says Forfang, who takes third team gold in ski flight.
The national team coach Stöckl understands that Forfang was frustrated, but it is clear that he is one of the reasons Norway took gold on Sunday.
– His effort is one of four and today he delivered a gold medal, says Stöckl.
The jumpers now travel to Engelberg in Switzerland, where there will be a World Cup next weekend.
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