Qualification Innsbruck: Hoffman best German athlete

All five German athletes qualified for the knockout duels at the Bergisel in Innsbruck. Felix Hoffmann finished fifth to become the best German jumper. Austria’s Jan Hörl wins the qualification ahead of three of his teammates.

Overall, the qualification at Innsbruck’s famous “Hill of Fate” went according to plan for the German athletes. All five jumpers made it into the top 50 and secured their place in tomorrow’s competition. The strongest German result came from Felix Hoffmann, who jumped 123.2 meters, scored 126.8 points and finished in fifth place. He was beaten only by five Austrian jumpers, who delivered impressive performances at their first home World Cup of the season. Jan Hörl won the qualification with 132.5 points, ahead of Stefan Kraft (131.6 points), Stephan Embacher (129.4 points) and Daniel Tschofenig (127.9 points).

With a solid performance, Pius Paschke secured his starting place for tomorrow's competition. A jump of 119 meters earned him 23rd place. Karl Geiger also qualified for the competition. The athlete from SC Oberstdorf jumped 115.5 meters and finished 38th.

Andreas Wellinger had to wait nervously after a jump of 115 meters before his qualification was confirmed following the result of Marius Lindvik. Due to the disqualification of Poland’s Pawel Wasek, Wellinger eventually moved up to 49th place.

Speaking after the qualification, Andreas Wellinger said:
“In recent days, there have been some better jumps, but also some that didn’t go so well. We are working hard to find a solution to make things easier. From time to time, there are parts of the jump where I can say: ‘Yes, that was a step forward.’ But at the moment, the flow and the ease are completely missing. I notice it at take-off – from that point on, it’s just a fight. It’s exhausting.”

After a longer break caused by strong wind conditions, the final four jumpers (including Philipp Raimund) had to deal with strong tailwind. Raimund managed a jump of 116.5 meters. With 115.3 points, he shared 16th place with his training partner Vladimir Zografski.

The following knockout duels await the German athletes at the Bergisel:

• Philipp Raimund vs. Felix Trunz (Switzerland)
• Felix Hoffmann vs. Alex Insam (Italy)
• Andreas Wellinger vs. Stefan Kraft (Austria)
• Pius Paschke vs. Gregor Deschwanden (Switzerland)
• Karl Geiger vs. Sandro Hauswirth (Switzerland)

Current Four Hills Tournament leader Domen Prevc was also affected by the difficult wind conditions. After a jump of 112 meters and a score of 109.8 points, the Slovenian finished only 30th.

See the official qualification result