The German ski jumpers around the Four Hills Tournament runners-up Andreas Wellinger have collected a damper at the dress rehearsal for the World Ski Jumping Championships in Oberstdorf.
In the absence of Richard Freitag, the German record holder Markus Eisenblicher (Siegsdorf) was on Saturday at the victory of the Norwegian Andreas Stjernen in the first World Cup flying of the season in Bad Mitterndorf as the tenth best DSV eagle, Wellinger came in 15th place. The second competition on Sunday was cancelled because of dangerous winds.
With a strong tailwind at the notorious Kulm, Eisenbichler and Wellinger had already lost all chances of a top position in the first run with 204.0 and 196.0 m respectively, in the second run Eisenbichler (217.0) and Wellinger (211.5) managed to limit the damage after all with an extended start.
As the Slovenian Jernej Damjan, who was originally fifth, and the Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang (eighth) were disqualified because of non-conforming suits, the German duo went two places forward.
Six days before the World Championships (19. till 21. January) Stjernen jumped to 229.0 and 226.0 m in his first World Cup victory.
The 29-year-old, whose father Hroar also won the World Cup once, saved 2.5 points ahead of his compatriot Daniel Andre Tande, who advanced to seventh place with a daily distance of 240.5 metres in the second round.
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Simon Ammann from Switzerland, who was back on the podium for the first time in almost three years, finished third. The 45-year-old Japanese ski flying world champion Noriaki Kasai from 1992 (!) achieved his best result of the season in fifth place.
The Polish high-flyer Kamil Stoch, who had won all four jumps at the Four Hills Tournament, was 21st. as the Germans did way back. Disappointing world record holder Stefan Kraft (Austria) suffered the next setback in his home game as ninth.
Richard Freitag, the dominant jumper of the first weeks of the season, had abandoned a start at the Kulm after his crash at the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck. The 26-year-old is expected to return to the team next week.