– The stupidest thing I can do is panic – VG

– Dirty day.

So summed it up by Norwegian jump comedian Halvor Egner Granerud after failing in Innsbruck. He lost the overall lead at Hoppuka and the dream of victory hangs in the balance. That is 20.6 points above the Polish Kamil Stoch before the last race.

Only four times before has the leader been beaten by so many points at Bischofshofen.

– The dumbest thing I can do now is panic, says Granerud.

He still believes that it is possible to catch up with Kamil Stoch and at the same time surpass Dawid Kubacki, who is in second place.

– It requires me to complete two good ski jumps and Kamil to do two normal ski jumps, says the Asker boy seriously.

Ten times the Hoppuka leader has changed from Race 3 to Race 4. In this data box you will get a complete description:

– Do you make any changes now or do you think normal is good enough?

The last. I don’t think there is any reason to solve anything otherwise. As at Garmisch, I showed in training jumps that I jump better. It is not the jump that makes me lose leadership today. I have to focus on that driving a bit, because it’s a long, smooth ride in Bischofshofen, says Granerud after struggling with speed in Innsbruck.

Espen Bredesen is one of those who died on the last day, when in 1993/94 he accumulated 12.2 points over Jens Weissflog and won the overall.

– There were many who asked me how I could take this distance. “Cluet” is that there are two new jumps, and you go there to do a job. Dot, says Espen Bredesen, who edged Weissflog with 20.2 points at Bischofshofen.

Bredesen’s advice is to ignore all the questions and not think about the distance, and even go so far as not to do all the training jumps.

– All you have to do is wait until you actually jump to think about ski jumping and not start thinking before that, says Bredesen.

He believes that Bischofshofen is an unpredictable hill as it can quickly get a lot of pull from behind and make a big difference. There are many indications that Granerud is on the same wavelength as the now retired great jumper.

– It will be a regular World Cup race. I’ll go there and complete the basics, then we’ll see how it goes, says the 24-year-old when asked what ticket he has for the fourth and final race at Hoppuka.

National team coach Alexander Stöckl continues with a variant of “the ball is round”: – Jumping week does not end until the last man has crossed the drop limit, he says.

P.S! Show jumping week will be decided in Bischofshofen on Wednesday 6th January. The race starts at 4:45 p.m.