Patience pays off.

For a whole year there was hardly anything to be heard or seen from Stephan Leyhe.

A cruciate ligament tear, sustained as part of the RAW Air series in Trondheim, put the Willinger out of action in one instant.

No jumps from the local Mühlenkopfschanze, no courses, nothing.

National coach Stefan Horngacher ordered that North Hesse should take a lot of time to get back to normal.

The one who experienced the most emotional moment of his ski jumping career almost two years ago.

Victory at the World Cup in the Strycktal.

A Willinger wins in Willingen.

That had never happened in the history of the Willinger World Cup - and it will probably never happen again.

Except: Leyhe strikes a second time.

Ralf Weitbrecht

Sports editor.

  • Follow I follow

He has the potential to do so. The bad cruciate ligament injury is long gone and forgotten. Leyhe, who will turn 30 on Wednesday, is in great shape again. On New Year's Day, when 5.45 million viewers were watching TV, Leyhe did what he usually does when he goes into the inrun, jumps off the take-off, brings his flight system on course and lands safely in telemark: stable and reliable ski jumping . “That was a good competition,” said Leyhe in the interview area of ​​the Great Olympic Hill on Garmisch-Partenkirchen's Gudiberg. “I am very satisfied with my result.” Leyhe can actually be satisfied with his performance, because after two clean jumps on 128 and 136.5 meters he found himself in tenth place in the list of results.

He was particularly impressed by his second big sentence. "Over 136 meters - that was really fun," said Willinger, who long ago found a new home in the Black Forest. Leyhe also lives not far from national coach Horngacher in Titisee-Neustadt. The proximity to his coach, who also acts as a base trainer, is intentional. Leyhe offers excellent training opportunities both on the Hochfirstschanze in Neustadt and in Hinterzarten, a few kilometers away, with its Adlerschanzen.

Ninth in Oberstdorf, tenth in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: It is Leyhe's Constance that has made him a reliable and respected figure in the German ski jumping team for years.

In the overall ranking of the Four Hills Tournament, North Hesse is eighth.

The Norwegian Robert Johansson, positioned in front of him, has a 29.3 point lead.

Converted, this corresponds to a gap of 16.28 meters for Leyhe.

With two competitions still outstanding, eighth place seems to be the highest of emotions.

Good for the team

But the tour has already seen a lot of turbulence and capers, just not one thing: that Leyhe goes off course. In the winter of 2018/2019, when the outstanding Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi equaled Sven Hannawald, won all four competitions and thus became Grand Slam champion, Leyhe landed third in the overall ranking. It was the Willinger's best and most impressive performance to date on the tour.

Leyhe is a team player. One who ultimately jumps for himself. Someone who always has the well-being of the team in mind. Like at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, when Leyhe was part of the silver team. Just like at the World Championship in Seefeld the following year, when the Germany team triumphed at Innsbruck's Bergisel and took the title. So now it's back to the Bergisel. This Tuesday (1.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Four Hills Tournament, on ZDF and Eurosport) the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament is on the program. Leyhe is positive. "I'm going to Innsbruck with a good feeling," he said before the transfer from Germany to Austria.

“It's a smaller hill than before, the approach is a little steeper,” he said.

“That's why I need two training jumps to adjust myself well.

If you're in good shape, it should go quickly. ”Leyhe is in good shape, as is the qualification on Monday, in which he finished twenty-fourth after jumping 119 meters and, as expected, got the ticket for an emergency Tuesday secured, he mastered.

What Leyhe particularly appreciates: "I never started as a top favorite on this tour and can do my things in the shade." .