Ski jumping idol wipes the allegations of fraud against German jumpers off the table

Malysz suspects DSV eagle
Ski jumping idol wipes the allegations of fraud against German jumpers off the table

Suddenly great at the World Cup: The competition does not taste good at the first decision. Poland's former world -class jumper Adam Malysz even senses fraud. But his long -time competitor Martin Schmitt wipes the criticism aside.

For months there are only MAUE news from the German ski jumpers. Since Pius Paschke was the favorite on the four -hill tour after taking the lead in the overall World Cup and taking numerous podium places, there was a big break -in. Dleed for the DSV eagles. But at the World Cup they suddenly fly back in front. This ensures talk and allegations of the competition.

Andreas Wellinger won silver while jumping from the normal hill in Trondheim in Norwegian, Karl Geiger narrowly missed a medal as fourth. It was the best German result since December. One that does not remain uncommented. Former world-class jumper Adam Malysz, now President of the Polish Ski Association, even senses fraud. “Something is wrong here. I think that's obvious. It is very strange,” he told the newspaper “Przeglad Sportowy”. “Either we still have loopholes in the regulations and some people know how to handle the rules, or I just don't know what's going on here.”

The excitement is primarily about violinist, who hadn't got going this season. Because according to Sport.Pl, his suit was “monstrous”, the competition was a “joke”. The discussion about the ski jump suits is therefore re-lit. A new control system should actually calm them down. Because the rules are clear: the fabric must not stand out by more than four centimeters from the body, defined measuring points are checked in every competition.

Schmitt sees “little differences”

Ex-world-class jumper Martin Schmitt arranges at Sport.de/NTV: “It is always like this: If someone jumps well, the discussions about it run behind the scenes throughout the season. Those who are on the podium usually do not complain, but others find points that they criticize.” For years, Malysz and Schmitt had been competitors around the turn of the millennium.

At Geiger, when jumping in the World Cup, it was actually clearly recognizable that his suit was a bump in the crotch before the start and it was also seen after landing. “It is already the case that you can see a wrinkle here and there, depending on how the recording is. I had the impression that the suits of the top teams are pretty similar and there are little differences,” says Schmitt, who works as an expert at Eurosport: “You can find settings and pictures in which the Polish suit looks very great – but it is not currently in focus.”

There had also been criticism from Norway this season, the World Cup hosts had stormed material fraud among the dominant Austrians: “From there you can hear less – understandable in the results,” said Schmitt. After all, Marius Lindvik had become world champion – so far he had only made it sporadically on the side this season.

Geiger passed inspection

Schmitt also emphasizes: Geiger's suit was of course controlled and checked. In the World Cup season, “several jumpers, also top jumpers” were disqualified: “Stefan Kraft caught it, Timi Zajc, Domen Prevc, all well-known athletes. So it is checked.” Chief controller Christian Kathol also did not want to let the allegations sit on: “All jumpers were examined with 3D scanners before the season and these pictures were not lying. Everyone was measured with uniform underpants. At that time I traveled with 100 pieces in my hand luggage,” he told the “picture”. “By the new rules that every jump suit has to be registered in advance, cheating has become much, much more difficult.”

Geiger himself made it clear: “I had an inspection and I passed it.” And why is it suddenly in a World Cup form? One fact is that the 32-year-old has the normal hill neglected in the World Cup. Already at the 2023 World Cup he won bronze when Wellinger won silver just like now. Before the World Cup, he also trained in his homeland Oberstdorf on the normal hill.

Five times World Cup gold in a row

“We should never write off Germans,” Geiger said after the competition. “We maneuvered ourselves out of the hole and are on an ascending branch. This path should go on now,” said Wellinger. And the two get shooters from a prominent place. Schmitt says at Sport.de/NTV that it was particularly apparent at Wellinger before the World Cup “that he jumped technically much better. With the last training phase, he got even more security and got a significantly higher quality into his leaps,” says the four -time world champion about Wellinger.

Wellinger can demonstrate this again on Wednesday. Together with Philipp Raimund, Katharina Schmid and Vice World Champion Selina Freitag, he starts in mixed team jumping (4 p.m./ARD and Eurosport). Germany recently won gold in mixed five times in a row. “Unfortunately, the changeover to the Großchanze was not so successful. In the end there were small bright spots between Wellinger and Raimund,” Horngacher warned of too much expectations.