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The journey begins very small, with a hop off a hill as a child, and continues, further and further and higher and higher.

At some point, jumping down into the valley on skis becomes normal, not banal, but a bit of a daily habit for all the eagles out there in the World Cup.

“But then you come to ski flying and see this mighty thing,” says Stefan Horngacher in awe.

In the face of the giant hills, he knows it as an ex-jumper and national coach of the Germans, thinking begins.

“But the charm of long-distance flying is so deep inside you - it was created as a child when you jump 70 meters for the first time.

Then the feeling matures in you, and the question arises: What is it like when you fly? ”An urge that does not dry up.

“The ski flying hill,” says Horngacher WELT AM SONNTAG, “is the last challenge.” Everyone wants to go there.

And there they will be soon.

This weekend the best will still be jumping at the World Cup in Nizhny Tagil (Russia), but the Ski Flying World Championships will start in Planica (Slovenia) on Thursday.

Everything is more gigantic there - the dimensions of the hill, the forces that work, the expanses, the adrenaline and the euphoria of the athletes, but also their respect, the risk and the exhaustion afterwards.

“You are getting really close to flying, mankind's ancient dream,” enthuses Sven Hannawald, who won two world championships.

Markus Eisenbichler could imitate him.

But not every jumper is born to fly.

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Comparable with competitions on normal or large hills like now in Russia, the spectacle of the Monsterbakken is only partially, the ski flying is considered a separate variant.

Only five hills worldwide meet the criteria.

There the jumpers race down a much longer run-up, accelerating up to 110 kilometers per hour, then pushing themselves into space, contrary to human instinct, sailing for about eight seconds, twice as long as usual, through the air and aiming for distances at speeds of 130 kilometers per hour beyond the 200 meter mark.

The ski jumping hill in Planica is almost something of a sacred place for the Slovenes

Source: pa / ZUMAPRESS.com / Milos Vujinovic

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The Austrian Stefan Kraft made the longest flight so far three years ago in Vikersund (Norway) with 253.5 meters.

“The Königsschanze is in Planica”, says Horngacher, “because of the atmosphere, the tradition and the vastness of yesteryear - everything comes together.” There on the “Letalnica”, also known as the “old lady”, the Finn Toni Nieminen flew over In 1994 he was the first to do the 200 meters, where Markus Eisenbichler made his first ski flights in the snow at the age of 18.

“An emotional place for me.

I love this hill, ”says the 29-year-old.

The only thing that the athletes have to do without this time because of the corona pandemic is the Slovenes, who are crazy about ski jumping, who usually make a pilgrimage to the ski jump en masse and create a festival atmosphere.

Special characters who have flying in their blood

But the anticipation remains.

A good flight, says Horngacher, is like a dream.

"It's so different from normal ski jumping," enthuses Eisenbichler.

“When I am flying, I forget everything, every stress, every thought for eight seconds.

I only enjoy what's happening, the speed, the weightlessness.

It's just fascinating.

I would like to always do that. "

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It's just not that easy to enjoy.

After all, the dimensions and thus the challenges are enormous.

Nothing for weak nerves.

“And then going to the limit in order to reach great distances makes it very special,” says Horngacher.

It takes more than just the confidence to take the plunge.

Again and again there were specialists who apparently had flying in their blood, who celebrated their greatest successes on the giant hills.

“You just have to have that feeling of flight.

Then you know in the air what to do: How balanced am I?

How far do I dare to go, to lie forward over the skis?

That has a lot to do with courage, with technology, but also with this sensitivity, ”says Horngacher.

Markus Eisenbichler on his record flight: In 2019 he set a national record at the World Cup in Planica with 148 meters

Source: pa / Pacific Press / Rok Rakun

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His predecessor in the office of national coach, Werner Schuster, speaks of a “certain mental constitution, certain characters” that are needed.

It is the reckless, the sensitive, the connoisseur who come closest to the original dream.

“Aviators are athletes who are still extremely capable of acting in this stressful situation, who perhaps once started ski jumping with the aim of jumping from ski jumps who were not afraid of anything,” says Schuster.

Those who, as children, “jumped very far on small jumps, and when they landed on their stomachs, just stood up and laughed because they loved the feeling of flying far.” Eisenbichler was one of those.

Schuster describes him as one of the last of his craft, a real aviator: “He has such a gene.” The ski-flying gene.

The problem: ski flying is not trainable

But even someone like Eisenbichler has to cope with the extra stress first, it is about the physical, but above all the mental challenge.

The latter is significantly heavier, as Horngacher says.

Especially since mistakes in ski flying can have fatal consequences.

Every jump has to be extremely well prepared, every time the concentration is at the limit - and that takes strength.

Because you can hardly train it: the five hills are not open outside of the competitions.

That makes it even more special than it already is.

Not just for the jumpers.

"The coaches are also more tense," says Horngacher.

“I'm always happy when the ski flying is over and all the boys are healthy again in the cabin.

We have a great responsibility if we let our athletes jump depending on the external conditions or not. "

Above all, of course, the jumpers feel the excitement, they report "palpitations" when they wait for the green light upstairs.

“When I was ski flying, there were blood tests that showed adrenaline levels comparable to fear of death,” says Hannawald.

"I can't remember, however, that at some point I sat on the beam and was actually scared to death, no."

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Everyone who is afraid shouldn't jump.

Fear paralyzes, unsettles and leads to mistakes.

“This tension that I always felt had nothing to do with fear, it was just an enormous amount of excitement.

You can then see from the reactions after landing which emotions are being discharged. "

First sad, then euphoric - then completely flat

Even at Eisenbichler, after long flights, a kind of elemental force, awe, which turns into redemption and euphoria.

At first it sounds strange that he says: "If I have flown far and had an extremely good feeling, at first I am rather sad when I come up." The reason is simple: because it is over.

“I'm no longer in the air, I'm back on the ground with reality.

But then I immediately hear the audience cheering and the emotions rise - the adrenaline rush is immense. "

Such ups and downs of extreme feelings are exhausting, energy consuming and draining.

No wonder that Hannawald and Eisenbichler are “completely flat” every time after a long ski-flying weekend.

But now it is imminent.

And even when it comes to the world title - Eisenbichler has the impression that the spirit of the supreme discipline is as special as flying itself.

“I have the feeling,” he says, “it's not about the idea of ​​competition, but about flying.

About being allowed to do it at all. "

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: WamS