Failing at the Tournee — Stefan Kraft: "Leaving would have been smarter"

The “Krone” reports from Garmisch

“Humour is the button that prevents your collar from bursting,” wrote Joachim Ringelnatz — and Stefan Kraft took his New Year’s result at Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a good dose of gallows humour, even if he was probably upset inside. The three-time world champion and 46-time World Cup winner had to settle for 26th place on the Olympic hill.

“It would have been smarter — I should have gone away with a few coaches and enjoyed New Year’s. Then I would have got more out of it,” the Salzburg native said. For the 32-year-old it was “not a good day on the hill, but that happens and I’ve experienced it before.” The Bakken hill in Garmisch appears to be one where his wishes for an overall Tournee victory often burst.

Here the standing in the Tournee:

“I don’t know what it is”

He was not the only disappointed jumper in the landing area. Last year’s winner Daniel Tschofenig was puzzled after his ninth place, which dropped him from second to eighth in the overall Tournee standings. “I had no luck,” he said, pointing to difficult conditions in the final. A good jump could have masked much, he added: “But if neither part works, then unfortunately it just doesn’t. I don’t know what it is. If I knew, I would change it. I’m having a hard time putting it all into perspective,” the 23-year-old from Carinthia said.

Also among the losers of the day was a Slovenian: Timi Zajc, who had been disqualified in Oberstdorf for a non-compliant suit while sitting second, again fell out of the results in Garmisch. Once more the leg length was incorrect. For both infractions he received a yellow card which will be converted to a red card — Zajc is barred from Innsbruck and Bischofshofen and his Tournee is over.

Kraft kept his humour despite the setback and vowed to move on. Daniel Tschofenig and others must now try to regroup before the next events in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen.