Ski Jumping World Cup: Towards the Olympics

Poland

It was a bit of a disappoinment when so many jumpers missed out on Zakopane. Only four of the top 10 of the World Cup were there. 53 jumpers in the qualifiers.

Domen only 8th in the first training round. Only the third Slovenian, so he won't make it to the super team, right? Domen first in the second training round.

Domen only 10th in the qualifiers, and only the third Slovenian. At what point did those super teams have to be chosen?

Domen not in the team, quite a scandal. On the other hand, does he need a rest? Later it turned out that Domen wanted a rest himself. Wellinger also wasn't in the team, so a competition without my favorites. So I chose the right day to drink. Qualifying winner Fettner didn't make it to the Austrian team. The expectation is an overwhelming victory for Austria.

"Will Poland make it to the podium?"

The expected victory for Austria and second place for Slovenia, Poland third.

 

 

Sunday

Preliminary information from Poland said that it would snow and be windy. Domen won the trial round.

Viaplay didn't show the race on TV, but luckily it was on Yle.

Domen 12th after the first round, so those dreams were shattered. Wellinger 16th, only a point and a half behind Domen, and actually a longer jump.

Wellinger 22nd, Domen 27th. That's when you know it's going badly when you lose to Wellinger. Anze won, so a Slovenian again.

Is Poland a shit country?

 

 

Japan

Domen second in qualifying after Roju. Wellinger not in. His time for the Olympics is running out.

Saturday's race started at 8:15 a.m. my time, and I was woken up appropriately, after five hours of sleep.

Domen won with a superior second-round jump, even though his shoe broke. I did wonder what kind of piece was fluttering there.

"Even before landing, the zipper on one of his shoes broke, which made it very difficult to complete the jump."

"I landed with great force, my shoe came off when I landed."

The TV only managed to record three minutes of the broadcast. Well, Sunday's race is not on TV at all, so I can't complain about the recordings.

 

 

Sunday, 4 am my time

I woke up at exactly 5 am, the second round was just about to start. Of course I didn't know the situation, that Domen was leading after the first round. Domen won the competition, even though the second jump was a horrible looking wobble.

"I mean it was tough, especially because I made a big mistake in the second round where I was a bit too aggressive. I wasn’t able to put the real power in the right direction, so my skis came up a bit too high and I had trouble but fortunately I got lots of wind, which helped with those essential meters."

So Domen won both competitions in Japan, although his shoe broke on Saturday and the second jump failed on Sunday.

In between here, there were, to put it mildly, dramatic World Ski Flying Championships.

 

 

Germany, Willingen

Before Willingen, I was also scared of things outside of ski jumping itself. For example, all that hatred towards the nein nein nein person. He would need a bodyguard.

On Friday, there were a mixed team competition, and I started to wonder if Domen would be on the team. He wasn't on the previous World Cup team competition either.

As I watched the first training round, I started to get scared. The headwind was so strong that the others were jumping 150 meters from platform 4, so Domen would run out of platforms and could have a life-threateningly long jump. I have long been afraid that Domen would get injured before the Olympics. Every jump is a chance to get injured. Domen jumped from platform 2, and only 131 meters, 16th place. Is this Domen's current level, or did he play it safe?

Now it's a bad situation when he runs out of platforms in Willingen. It's not good if Domen (and the others) have to hold back and fear for their lives.

Domen won the second training round, 148 meters, from stage 6 even though there was a lot of headwind.

Domen IS in the team, Wellinger is not. Slovenia wins the one-round mixed team competition, 0.6 points ahead of Germany. Yle Areena didn't show the awards ceremony, boo.

 

 

Saturday

Saturday morning started with the news that the FIS wants to exclude Slovenian ski jumpers from the competition due to hate speech against Germany on social media. Yes, every stone will be turned so that Domen is not allowed to jump. I guess we have to start believing in the German mafia. Are conspiracies always true?

Domen second in qualifying.

Quite a wind lottery in the first round. Domen in the lead after the first round, Wellinger fifth!

For Domen in the second round too long jump 155 meters with a flat-footed descent, ass slanting to the ground. That's exactly what I've been afraid of, an overlong jump, a fall and an injury. What would have happened if he had tried a telemark? So an overwhelming victory for Domen. Wellinger sixth, what a stroke of luck just before the Olympics, from the 2018 Olympic champion.

"At the end, I was thinking about how I would land safely so that everything would be fine. The Olympics are just around the corner and I want to arrive in Predazzo healthy. I did everything I could to land safely."

 

 

 

I could see the victory ceremony, wonderful. Domen seemed to be on the verge of tears on the podium, it must have been a difficult week for him in the shadow of the ski scandal.

One more competition before the Olympics, scary.

 

 

 

Sunday

Domen won the qualification, Wellinger 18th, Timi the first to drop out of the race.

Domen in the lead after the first round, Anze second, the world's best fourth, Wellinger 11th. They still have to survive one more jump before the Olympics.

Domen won by an overwhelming 31.7 points. Wellinger 8th. The award ceremony was not shown, boo.

I had already started thinking about how I could see the award ceremonies at the Olympics. At least not on Yle, but maybe on HBO Max? Or else I just have to hope for the perfect result: Domen first, Wellinger second, a Finn third.