Severin Freund was not competing in the FIS Grand Prix opener last weekend in Wisla, but the currently best German ski jumper will be participating in Hinterzarten.

And, as the 27-year-old recently told in an interview with the newspaper "Badische Zeitung", he is already looking forward to the competitions in front of the home crowd. "I won my first German national title in Hinterzarten. The Grand Prix in the Black Forrest usually takes place very early in the summer season, so it's always a bit difficult to evaluate your own performance. For me personally the hill there is not really easy to jump, but the competition is still nice. It's always good to see the other athletes again and see where you stand performance wise at the moment."

For the overall World Cup winner, the summer competitions are a good indicator, but the results are not most important there. "It has to be mentioned that tt's always done during the training period. Of course we prepare ourselves for the competition a bit, but the results are not that significant. It always depends on what the athletes of the other teams are currently doing in training, in what phase of the preparation for the winter they are right now, or if they were working towards Hinterzarten."

4-Hills win still missing

Even if the summer season hasn't really started yet for Severin Freund, he is already looking towards the upcoming winter. After his big successes over the last two years, the Munich resident is still lacking an important title. "This would be the overall win at the 4-Hills-Tournament. I guess many people in Germany, and of course myself, would be very happy if I could add this to my collection. But, sure: The 4-Hills writes its own stories. I will try it again every year, but there are many other jumpers who haven't won it yet either and they'll try it as well. Winning the 4-Hills-Tournament would be rated about as high as Olympic Gold in an individual competition. It would be very, very nice if it would happen."

Source: fis-ski.com