Ski jumping ace in form

“You’re the hunted!” Kraft ready for the new season

Stefan Kraft is ready to defend his title.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Jure Makovec)

Stefan Kraft may not have been named Austria's "Sportsman of the Year", but he was the undisputed best ski jumper in the world last season. After his third overall World Cup triumph, 13 World Cup victories and World Ski Flying Championship gold in the individual and silver with the team, he delivered a season that could hardly be topped. However, the 31-year-old from Salzburg is aware that it is always difficult the year after.

"I already know that. This is the third time I've won the trophy and I've often realized that the year after is not easy. Because you're the hunted, you're measured by what you did last year," Kraft recently said at a media event in Salzburg. "A season like this can't happen like this every time."

Nevertheless, he has done everything he can and worked hard, the conditions are right for the Pongau native. "Maybe someone else will come along who has a run like I did last year. Of course I want to be one of the best jumpers again, to be at the front everywhere, and I'm confident of that."

New regulations for suits
In terms of jumping, he had a "summer like never before". Only two days didn't go as well as in Hinzenbach, for example, a hill that doesn't suit him very well.

The "high-flyer" was also helped by the fact that he prepared without any changes to his equipment due to changes in the regulations. That is very nice, especially when you have a good winter behind you. "I've often had that before and then you had to change everything. That was fine once, which is why I've been on the hill less this year."

New in the coming World Championship winter is the restriction of suits to ten per season for competitions that are also marked. But that doesn't bother Kraft at all. "Of course, you have to think carefully about which suit you send for chipping. You then have to make do with it for a while." But last year he also used the suit from the first win of the season to Bischofshofen. "If the suit is good, then it's good for you. But I think it's good that the suit is taken off in advance so that the regulations are taken seriously. We've never burned our fingers there."

Tour and World Championships as goals
Physically, Kraft, who used to have back pain from time to time, had no problems at all. "I haven't had to miss a single training session, I've never been ill." And he even got to know himself anew in his physio sessions. "The things that are possible and the positions I can get into at the age of 31," he said with a grin.

The goals are set with the Four Hills Tournament and the World Championships in Trondheim. "The tour worked better last year with third place," said Kraft, who has won the classic once so far. A red-white-red Tournament victory is also the declared goal of head coach Andreas Widhölzl. The ÖSV eagles have trained at all four tour venues and also tried to find out new things about the Bakken, Kraft reveals. And "of course" the World Championships are also important for Kraft. "If I go home without a medal, I'll be unhappy."