Karl Geiger: Lots of self-confidence before the home event

The timing for his first World Cup win couldn't have been much better for Karl Geiger. The Oberstdorf-native won in Engelberg before Christmas and can now compete in his home competition with a lot of self-confidence.

"The last World Cup weekend before the 4-Hills-Tournament was really amazing. My first World Cup win and the fourth place a day later really gave me self-confidence. After a successful summer, I could also show this kind of jumps in winter. And now I saw that I can even finish on top if everything works out well. So I'm looking forward to the Tournament even more now, especially to the opener in my hometown Oberstdorf. With the successes in Engelberg I can really be relaxed now. Having family and friends in the crowd is a great feeling and makes for a good mood. The atmosphere in the stadium is very, very special anyway", the 25-year-old is quoted in a media release of the German Ski Association.

Karl Geiger is convincing with consistently strong performances this winter. He finished in the Top 10 in all individual competitions so far this season and in the fourth place in the overall World Cup automatically makes him one of the contenders for a top result in the upcoming 4-Hills-Tournament. But the German doesn't really want to think about that too much right before the start of the first big highlight of this winter. "Even if it's the 4-Hills-Tournament, I will still be focusing on every competition individually and trust my technique. The overall result, in the end, depends on so many small details that you don't have an influence on."

Head coach Werner Schuster is sure that Karl Geiger and Stephan Leyhe, currently sixth in the overall World Cup, can step in for those, who are usually the German top jumpers but are not in their best shape yet. 
"Andreas Wellinger, Richard Freitag, and Severin Freund, who were leading the team in the past, could not show their usual top performances during the course of the season so far. On the other hand, Karl Geiger and Stephan Leyhe stepped into the spotlight with their great results. Markus Eisenbichler was also able to implement his very good technique in the competition in Engelberg. Karl and Stephan are our top-ranked ski jumpers and so they are also among the wider circle of favorites", said Schuster.