Louis Obersteiner landed on the podium twice. / Picture: Stadtadler
Historic premiere in the Austrian ski jumping circuit: never before have two athletes from Vienna clinched a double victory in the highest national junior competition series. At the Austria Cup in Höhnhart, Upper Austria, nobody jumped further than the two city eagles Sara Pokorny (13) from Vienna-Meidling and Meghann Wadsak (14) from Vienna-Innere Stadt. At the same time, for the first time in the history of the Stadtadler, a Viennese stood on the podium of the most important international junior ski jumping competition: At the Alpencup in Liberec, Czech Republic, Louis Obersteiner (17) from Vienna-Donaustadt landed on the podium twice in a row.
“When we arrived in Liberec, I felt right after the first training jumps that something was going on. I hoped for the top 30 so that I could score points, I dreamed of the top ten. Of course, I'm extremely happy with two podium places, “says Obersteiner. In the first round of the first competition, he also flew over the 100 meters Mark clear. With 103.0 meters he was even in the lead during the break. In the second round, the 96.0 meters still meant the second highest distance and in the first competition second place for the Liberec debut.
On the second day of the competition he reached another 103.0 meters. Together with another jump to 100.5 meters, there was another podium finish at the end, this time third. Austria’s next generation of ski jumpers also demonstrated at the Alpine Cup in Liberec. With Maximilian Ortner (19) from SV Villach, who won both days, and Andre Fussenegger (18) from SV Dornbirn, who came third and second, the young Austrians kept the other nations at a distance in junior ski jumping.
“Louis is having a great run right now. Not only that he has left 50 of the best young ski jumpers from other nations behind. He's even the youngest on the podium. We congratulate him very much on the great work he did on his jumps, “says Bernhard Wadsak, sports director of the Stadtadler.
Double victory for Wiener Stadtadler
At the national level, two young Viennese women outshine everything in the next generation of ski jumpers. For the first time, Sara Pokorny and Meghann Wadsak even brought a double victory to Vienna. “My excitement was gone immediately after the first jump and I was totally calm. As a result, I think I managed the second jump even better than expected. I am of course satisfied that it was worth going to every training session in the summer and continuing to work, even if the jumps in training weren't so good, “says Pokorny. Brand and won the first Austria Cup of her young ski jumping career: In the first round she landed 51.5 meters, in the second she added another meter and with 52.5 meters, the daily maximum distance of all girls and boys.
Another young Viennese woman landed directly behind her, Meghann Wadsak. The 14-year-old from the city center jumped almost without preparation – she had previously been in the USA for several weeks – on 49.5 and 47.0 meters and thus secured the first Viennese double victory in junior ski jumping in memory.
There was also a Viennese on the podium among the young boys in Christian Moser's team: Fabian Plank, 13-year-old city eagle from Vienna-Wieden, even achieved the maximum distance in his performance class with 51.5 meters and thus fought his way from sixth place 49 meters still in second place. “I went to Höhnhart with a bad feeling because it didn't go smoothly in the preparatory training. But then I noticed in the first run that it was going well and then luck and the wind were on my side, “he says.
With Thomas Benedik (13) from Vienna-Floridsdorf, another city eagle is well ahead in the most competitive performance class, pupil II. With two jumps of 49.0 meters and eleventh place, he was closer to the top than ever before in his ski jumping career Ten.
And the Vienna Austria Cup debutants also showed strong jumps: Simon Kleineidam (11) from Wien-Landstrasse jumped twice to 37.5 meters and took 25th place in his performance class student I. And Veit Scheed, 13-year-old city eagle from the Mauerbach in Lower Austria, landed at 40.0 and 39.5 meters and took 36th place in the pupil II class at his first Austria Cup.
Lots of potential, no hill
“The meticulous work of all our athletes and our coaching team paid off right at the start of the Austria Cup season. The fact that, for the first time in history, two Viennese women clinch a double victory in the Austria Cup shows how much athletic potential there is in ski jumping in the federal capital, “says Bernhard Wadsak. And reminds the City of Vienna how much the building of a new generation is -Training hill in year-round summer operation in Vienna.
