Four Hills Tournament: Karl Geiger’s slump continues in Oberstdorf

Karl Geiger’s difficult season took another hit at the Four Hills Tournament opener in Oberstdorf. Two years after being among the favorites—he was 2nd in Oberstdorf qualifying on December 28, 2023—the three‑time Olympic medalist and ski flying world champion placed only 53rd in qualifying on December 28, 2025, and missed the main competition.

Speaking to Sportschau after a jump of just 106.5 m (compared to qualifying winner Domen Prevc’s 139.5 m), Geiger admitted: “That’s a sentence with an X—pretty bitter. You have to accept it upright. The whole pill tastes pretty sour.”

Geiger had taken a three‑week break from the World Cup circuit and completed about 80 training jumps to reset. The work has not yet borne fruit. He said his jump was “way too late,” and when out of form “too many meters are missing.”

The article notes that several former top athletes are struggling with rule changes before the season, especially the tighter suit regulations. Among those affected are Geiger’s teammates Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke, Norway’s Marius Lindvik and Halvor Egner Granerud, and Polish jumpers including former Four Hills champion Kamil Stoch. Wellinger and Paschke, however, still managed to qualify for the Oberstdorf KO duels as 39th and 21st.

Geiger outlined the technical fixes he and his team are targeting: adjusting his crouch and take‑off so the ski can ‘build,’ making the body feel light, restoring pressure in the jump, and closing his flight system. He needs rapid improvement, as he still lacks the qualification standard for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina and time is running short.

The piece also highlights Domen Prevc as qualifying winner and links to coverage of German hopefuls Philipp Raimund and Felix Hoffmann in Oberstdorf.