After redemption in Garmisch
Deschwanden hopes for the ketchup effect
After the “best summer” of his career, a horrible start to the World Cup winter followed. During the Four Hills Tournament, Gregor Deschwanden seems to have finally clicked. Because he pushed the reset button.
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Form curve points upwards: Gregor Deschwanden flies more stable again.
Marco Pescioreporter sports
Ponder, tinker, quarrel. Gregor Deschwanden spent the months of November and December mainly analyzing inadequate jumps on a regular basis – and repositioning himself physically and mentally. Back to zero.
Now? At station 3 of the Four Hills Tournament, in Innsbruck, Deschwanden suddenly attacked with completely new self-confidence. What happened?
Bad luck excuse should not apply
Deschwanden actually started the season with early praise. At Swiss-Ski, after good summer Grand Prix appearances – for example second place in Courchevel – he was given a lot of credit. He himself spoke of the “best summer of my career”. But then the zeros in Wisla and Ruka followed at the start of the World Cup, in Titisee-Neustadt he jumped to 28th place and in Engelberg to 25th place. There was nothing else to gain. Crazy. And disappointing.
The start of the tour in Oberstdorf also failed with 37th place – also because the conditions at his jump were not good.
But Deschwanden does not want to accept the bad luck excuse for Oberstdorf. Of course, he also took a close look at that performance: “In retrospect, I had to admit that I unpacked the technically wrong jump for this wind.”
“Back to basics”
Deschwanden prefers self-criticism. Better an honest analysis than frustrated blaming the weather. This attitude has also made him hit the reset button over the past few weeks. “Back to the basics,” he says.
After the good summer he still thought he had to “jump out more aggressively”, but his current realization is: “If I approach it more passively, I’ll take more altitude with me. That’s paradoxical, but that’s how it is with me at the moment.”
In Garmisch it was enough for him to finish 21st. Deschwanden seems more relaxed, looser – and more stable in the jump. Now he’s hoping for the ketchup effect: “Of course! Sometimes it goes faster than you think.” However: In Innsbruck, the German Markus Eisenbichler, who became world champion in 2019, is waiting in a knockout duel. A real test for the new Deschwanden version.