This time the ski jumpers need a lot of staying power.

Until April 5th, the daredevil flying artists will trundle between the continents and whiz down the jumps.

"We have a very, very long season," says Andreas Wellinger.

Because it starts this Friday.

Ralph Weitbrecht

sports editor.

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The starting point is the same as always, but the general conditions have changed.

For the first time in the history of the World Cup, jumping will take place on mats.

Climate change, energy crisis - it is above all the early date at the beginning of November that leads to this change of strategy in Wisla.

Wellinger, Olympic champion from Pyeongchang 2018, doesn't really care.

He is in better shape than he has been in a long time and is traveling to Poland with his teammates Karl Geiger, Markus Eisenbichler, Pius Paschke, Constantin Schmid and newcomer Philipp Raimund with something that cannot be bought: self-confidence.

Wellinger became double champion in the national title fights this late summer.

Both individually and in the team, the complicated mechanisms that can decide within a very short time whether you climb up or down in the difficult sport of ski jumping worked again for him.

Knee, collarbone, Corona

World Cup on mat so.

"We do that in training.

Nothing changes in the approach,” says Wellinger, who also sees an opportunity for his sport in this temporary green experiment.

Once again, the now 27-year-old winter sports professional is about to start again.

"The last few years have been extremely difficult," he said recently at the outfitting appointment of the German Ski Association in Herzogenaurach.

Long-term injuries, including a cruciate ligament rupture, had thrown the sunny boy back again and again.

"2019 with a broken knee, 2020 with a broken collarbone and Corona, and then the messed up 2021 season, where it didn't go at all as I imagined" - Wellinger has been through a lot.

Last season didn't go according to plan either.

There were no long jumps or flights.

Wellinger is in good spirits these days and considers his flying profession a privilege.

“Apart from the six-week break due to the meniscus surgery, I was able to train very well over the summer.

My knee is broken, I accepted that and it won't change," he says laconically.

"But the rest works fine.

I have a stable body.” And recently also a new ski to help him stabilize the jump.

The Olympic champion knows: “Ski jumping is a sensitive sport.

You always have to be open.”

New wind compensation rule introduced

The International Ski Association is also open to innovations.

For decades, Walter Hofer was a ski jumping pioneer who, as race director, made the sport what it is today and consistently enjoys the best viewing figures on television.

In an effort to make it as fair as possible for all athletes, a new wind compensation rule will be introduced this World Cup season.

"There were often such serious differences last winter," says Wellinger, who hopes "that the good jumps will be rewarded more in difficult conditions".

After a number of summer courses on the home hills in the Bavarian Alps and mostly on Innsbruck's Bergisel in neighboring Austria, Wellinger has regained confidence.

Before the start in Wisla he speaks of “ski jumping at a high level.

My jumps have become more stable.” With an analytical eye, he explains his personal difference to the past two years: “Jumps that are not quite optimal still fly.

If I can stabilize that, a lot is possible.”

A lot should be possible for the German team in this particularly long winter.

In addition to the World Cup, the main focus is on the Four Hills Tournament around the turn of the year and the Nordic World Championships from February 21st to March 5th in Planica.

Wellinger and Co. will be challenged twice in Slovenia.

When organizing the World Cup, the ski jumping circus relies entirely on continuity.

The first points are awarded in Wisla, and the trophies are presented in Planica in spring-like temperatures.

Wellinger is looking forward to the double strike, because "Planica as a place is extremely enthusiastic about ski jumping.

Flying in that valley is awesome.

I became more and more friends with the hills there.”

Joining the German World Cup team as a 17-year-old, Wellinger, now 27, is almost a thing of the past.

"Theoretically I'm still young, but in practice I already feel relatively old because I've been around for a long time," he says.

"But ski jumping is the coolest thing there is." Let's see what this particularly long ski jumping winter has to offer Wellinger.