Perfect start for the new Polish ski jumping head coach Stefan Horngacher in the opening event of the FIS Grand Prix 2016 in Courchevel (FRA). With a double victory of Maciej Kot and Kamil Stoch the Polish team achieved the top result it was hoping for. Austrian Stefan Kraft came in third.
With 275.1 points and jumps on 129.5 m and 126.5 m Kot took the top spot and ended his personal two year drought. "I came to Courchevel with the goal to fight for the podium. I knew that I'm in a good shape. Today I was able to do in the competition, what I already showed in training over the past weeks and in the first jumps here. We trained very well with our new coach. I'm totally satisfied and happy about today's result and I also have a lot of self-confidence. Of course I'm more than happy that the two difficult years are over for me now."
His teammate Kamil Stoch was very satisfied with his second place (128.5 m and 128 m / 270.1 points). "This was a competition on a high level with many long jumps. It was great for the fans and also for our team and myself. I'm really happy now", said the double Olympic champion of Sochi.
The third-placed Austrian Stefan Kraft (129 m and 130 m / 267.9 points) was also happy with today's competition. "When we were training here on the past few days I already realized that I'm in a good shape. But it's not always easy to show that in the competition. Today it went really well for me and I'm absolutely satisfied. This is a perfect start of the summer for me. Now I'm looking forward to Wisla and hopefully I can jump that well there again."
Even though Manuel Poppinger and Philipp Aschenwald were disqualified in Friday's qualification, the Austrians achieved a top team result with Michael Hayboeck in fourth. Clemens Aigner was ninth and came in among the Top 10 as well. The Austrian team was lead by Andreas Widhoelzl, who took the place of head coach Heinz Kuttin in Courchevel.
The summer 2016 started with ups and downs for the German athletes. Their best was Andreas Wellinger in seventh. The performances of Andreas Wank (11th), Stephan Leyhe (17th) and Richard Freitag (21st) will probably not have enthused head coach Werner Schuster, whose position in Courchevel was taken by Jens Deimel.
Ronny Hornschuh had a strong start as head coach of the Swiss jumpers: Four athletes in the final and good performances by Kilian Peier, Gregor Deschwanden, Simon Ammann and Luca Egloff raise hopes for the future of the Swiss team.
The only Norwegian in the final round was Robert Johansson in 23rd. Considering the fact that Johansson had to jump with borrowed skis and a binding, that was mounted by Peter Slatnar the day before, this is a remarkable result. "It seems our skis were found now, but nobody could tell us where they are right now and when and where we can pick them it", Johansson explained the situation regarding the four pairs of skis, which got lost on the trip from Oslo to Courchevel.
About 3 000 spectators saw a perfectly organized competition on a high level under sunshine and summerlike temperatures.
There's no doubt that Stefan Horngacher is the big winner of the Grand Prix opener. A double victory in his first competition as head coach, that's 100 of 100 possible points for the former assistant coach of the German team.
This double victory of the Polish team will probably also boost the ticket sales for the second leg of the FIS Grand Prix next weekend in Wisla (POL), where two competition (Friday: Team; Saturday: Individual) will be held.
Source: fis-ski.com
