Karl Geiger has given the German ski jumpers their first victory of the season at their home World Cup in Klingenthal. The 30-year-old jumped 144 and 146 meters in the Saxon winter sports stronghold on Saturday. He relegated Austria's Stefan Kraft and Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi to second and third place. Andreas Wellinger in fourth and Pius Paschke in fifth completed another very strong German team result. There have now been six podium places in five competitions for national coach Stefan Horngacher's team.
"It was incredibly cool. It was great fun," said Geiger on ARD. "I never thought I would win." Horngacher was also thrilled. "Karl jumped exceptionally well today. He was super focused," he said. "He really showed two great jumps." Looking at the whole team, the coach said: "Super team, super atmosphere, super success!"
In heavy fog and a great atmosphere, Geiger showed in the first round that he is also a winner to be reckoned with this season. The man from Oberstdorf cheered exuberantly with his fists raised. After his second jump, he shouted his joy out loud. It was his first podium finish of the winter. Geiger showed that Kraft, who had won all four competitions so far, is beatable. Stephan Leyhe (14th) and Martin Hamann (29th) from the German team also scored World Cup points.
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