Andreas Wellinger: On his way back to the top

Andreas Wellinger is one of the most popular members of the German Ski Jumping team. The 26-year-old is always positive, in a good mood, and a fan favorite. After a long dry spell, the two-time Olympic champion could return to the top in the upcoming winter.

The Bavarian claimed his first World Cup win already in 2014 in Wisla (POL). Just a short time later, he took team gold in the Olympic Games together with Andreas Wank, Marinus Kraus, and Severin Freund, everyone remembers how the team enthusiastically celebrated their win in the outrun of the hill in Sochi. Two more World Cup wins followed for him in Willingen and Nizhny Tagil 2017.

The highlight of his career then came in 2018 when he won Olympic gold on the normal hill in PyeongChang, and in addition silver on the large hill and with the team - everything went perfectly well for Wellinger. In summer 2019 he suffered a major setback when he tore his ACL during training in Hinzenbach, he was sidelined for an entire season. He then also sustained a collar bone fracture when he was surfing and achieved many bad results.

He was not in good shape anymore and Wellinger had to fight to make the cut in the qualification for a competition. His best result in the last World Cup season was the 32nd place in Engelberg - he didn't even score one World Cup point.
"A lot went wrong last season. When I was sidelined due to the injury, there were new rules regarding the suits and the wedges in the boots. I had to make up for the lost time adjusting to this. I just needed longer to get that right feeling back", Wellinger explains.

The summer raises hopes for Wellinger
Last summer, Andreas Wellinger finally showed strong performances again. He was fifth in the Grand Prix in Hinzenbach, a result that now raises hopes that he can be among the very best again.

"My first goal is to make the team, I want to work on my consistency in the competitions and score World Cup points. I want to use the competitions to stabilize my performances and show what I'm capable of. Then the next goal is going to Beijing", said Wellinger, who's left his serious knee injury behind. "My knee is doing well, I don't worry about this anymore. After an injury you have to overwrite the hard drive with positive content, with moments like the first time I returned to the hill or the first long jumps", he said.

This weekend Andreas Wellinger will be competing in the German national championships in Oberhof, where he wants to show a good performance among a strong field. The 2021/22 Olympic season starts in four weeks in Nizhny Tagil (RUS) and of course Wellinger wants to take part in the Olympics in Bejing, where he will be the defending champion on the normal hill.