– I have to check that my wife is not giving birth, I’m sorry – Dawid Kubacki begins the conversation with journalists. “Um, but no,” he says calmly after a moment, when he’s already scrolled through the latest messages on his phone. The Pole took third place in the first competition of the 71st Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf. He lost only to Halvor Egner Granerud and Piotr Żyła.
Kubacki points out mistakes in both jumps. “I missed the landing approach”
In the first series, the jump, and basically Kubacki’s landing, could cause heart problems. The jumper quickly gained height and fell from a really large ceiling. – The jump was far, decent. It sat well from the threshold and indeed the timing was better. The direction too, everything was spinning and it wanted to fly. I messed up the landing approach a bit, in my opinion it was my mistake. That’s why I sat down and laughed so much that I need to train my legs a bit now so that I don’t have a problem with stopping such jumps. And to make this telemark look nicer – Kubacki points out.
Already after the first series, the leader of the general classification of the World Cup was losing to both Granerud and Żyła. In the end, after the second one, he did not overtake either of them. – I’ve made mistakes. I got the landing wrong in the first set and the landing itself wasn’t the best. I lost a lot of points on that, and in the second round it was just a late jump. If it weren’t for that, it might have been a few feet away. Although the telemark has improved, so much good, such a plus. I am aware of these mistakes, but I am happy with this great start of the Tournament for us – laughs the jumper.
Stoeckl used a poker play for Granerud. Kubacki did not wait. “Maybe the coach didn’t want to risk it”
Granerud gained a lot from the bold move of his coach – Alexander Stoeckl in both series was so sure of the Norwegian’s form that he asked for his bar to be lowered. As a result, Granerud was fighting for additional points, and his disposition still allowed him to fly away from his rivals.
Did Kubacki expect the same from Thomas Thurnbichler, the trainer of the Poles? – Well, I was waiting for this lowering of the beam, I watched if it was going down, but it didn’t come. I went as it was. Could it change anything? It’s always better to jump that meter closer, and it’s nicer to land and get even more points for the beam. However, I think that the situation on the hill was changing too dynamically and maybe the coach just didn’t want to risk such a move in the first competition. You could hit the conditions, the moment when it would be weaker, and it is enough not to fly half a meter to the required distance and there are no points for the beam. It’s hard to decide at a time like this, and we can only speculate now. We won’t be able to do that anymore, he says.
Kubacki flew to Żyła, who surprised him with his joy. “I felt it after my jump”
Kubacki lost the competition with Żyła, although he received his result very positively. And I think he was scared of his reaction to his own good result in the competition, because his teammate was back in his own world, and very expressive at that. “I felt it down here after my jump. I’m glad I had a helmet on my head – laughs Kubacki again.
– We will fight on the hill, of course, but off the hill we are colleagues. We are happy with the success of the other. I flew out after his jump to him to enjoy with him. And I didn’t care if I was second or third, smoke six. The situation itself, because after his jump it was already known that there would be two Poles on the podium. And this is a cause for great joy. Piotrek was very happy, I’m a little calmer, but at least it balances out somehow – adds the jumper.
Granerud out of reach? Kubacki says no. “If we hadn’t made these mistakes”
What does Halvor Egner Graneruda think about the advantage? – With today’s jumps, the results of the competition showed that he was not catchable, but I think that if we hadn’t made these mistakes, it would have been perfect. However, we are not machines, mistakes can happen. I am aware of what I did wrong, and yet I was on the podium, so it’s a great situation – says Kubacki.
“Nothing has closed or decided here today. Really, every day in this Tournament something can change. There is nothing to predict from the bullet, here you have to come well prepared for the hill and do your best as possible, focus on it. Everything will turn out in the end. We have no influence on the place and we have to come to terms with this time – he sums up.
Now Ga-Pa. Kubacki has good memories and a record from there. “I feel good there”
On Friday, the competition moves from Oberstdorf to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. – I feel good on every hill, but it turned out that I have records on those in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bischofshofen. As you can see today, I couldn’t add another one, I’m joking that you have to regret it and try next year. I feel good in Ga-Pa, it’s fun to jump there. I am expecting many fans, nice weather and good jumps – assures Dawid Kubacki.
In Ga-Pa, the qualifiers are scheduled for Saturday, January 31 at 14:00. At 11:45 the official training series will start. On Sunday, the jumpers will start the day with a trial round at 12:30 and the first round of the second competition of the 71st TCS will start at 14:00. Live coverage on Sport.pl and in the Sport.pl LIVE application.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
