Halvor Egner Granerud keeps Grand Slam dream alive with Garmisch-Partenkirchen win to make it two from two

Halvor Egner Granerud continued his fine form, and kept the grand slam dream alive, as he won at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in style to make it two wins from two in the 2022-23 Four Hills.

Granerud jumped last in the second jump after leading the way after the first and he put in a staggering jump to get over 300 points (the only man to do so) with a final score of 303.7.

Watching the final jump on commentary for Eurosport former world championships bronze medallist Jernej Damjan was in awe.

“He is just too strong for anybody else at the moment, even with mistakes because this was not a perfect jump.

“It looked easy, with a few wobbles in the air, it didn’t bother him at all. He just went, landed and won.”

Granerud himself was ecstatic with the result, exclaiming afterwards: “It’s been an amazing start to the New Year, just three good jumps, the first one in the trial jump was insane. And the two in the competition were really good and Happy New Year everyone!

“That’s special [to have family watching on at Garmisch], it was really a moment to stand out there and see those pictures on the big screen waiting for the results. That’s what sport is and only sport can create emotions like this.”

Granerud also explained the reason behind his seated cross-legged Zen-pose celebrations afterwards, admitting they were a homage to Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland who has been famous for doing the same after scoring goals in the past.

“Two years ago I was in really good shape here at Garmisch and I thought I’d make a celebration like [Erling] Haaland in honour of him because he was the King of Germany at the time. But Dawid set the hill run in the final round and I came second so I’ve been waiting for a moment to do the celebration since then so that’s the reason.”

He added in a separate interview for Eurosport “It’s not super hard at the moment to jump well. Still, the qualification yesterday was a good sign that I really need to be on it. Today I woke up with a good feeling and I tried to maintain it throughout the day.

“It was just fantastic to be in the situation of leading after the first round.

“It will be interesting [in Austria]. It’s not the first time I’m in the lead after Garmisch. Innsbruck will be challenging. My dream is to be in the lead when we come to Bischofshofen.”

Eurosport expert Martin Schmitt added his thoughts saying “What a start to the new year. Granerud the big winner today, struggled a bit yesterday but today on the very top superior again with an amazing performance.

“The wind in the second round eased up and it was really good competition management. They reduced the in-run speed so Halvor could show all his potential and a great jump of 142m with a telemark so a nice exciting competition

“Also Anze Lanisek back and in really good shape and Dawid Kubacki with a good final but not enough to keep up with Halvor so Halvor big favourite for title but tournament is not over yet.”

The coach of Norway, Alex Stoeckl was delighted the performance of Granerud and he singled out what he thought was giving him the edge.

“Ah well it’s a bit hard to tell but what he’s doing really well at the moment is the first phase of flying, this transition to the flight. He’s extremely fast and he takes a lot of energy forward, loses no speed and he manages to keep the speed all the way down. and he has a really good angle of flying so he gets a lot forward in the last part of flying. This gives him those extra metres compared to the others.”

When asked about a possible grand slam Stoeckl said “Everything is possible in the Four Hills tournament. Bergisel [Innsbruck] is a difficult hill with the conditions there and he doesn’t like this hill so much so we really have to work hard to prepare him well. He has to use the training to really find the rhythm for the hill so we’ll have to see how it goes there. Then we can talk maybe.”

And finally he highlighted the importance of the family support that Granerud has around.

“It’s very important [on the support of Granerud’s family]. They have been supporting him for many, many years through good and bad times. I think it’s nice for him to give something back with his good results here and it’s really nice to see they are enjoying their times here in Garmisch.”

It’s the 16th career win for Granerud although his first at Garmisch and he now leads Dawid Kubacki by 26.8 points after two jumps in the Four Hills.

Polish star Kubacki had to settle for third place as he was bumped down by first Anze Lanisek and then the winner Granerud.

Lanisek was pumped in the finish zone after his jump, dishing out high-fives as he waited for the scores from the judges.

Those scores put him on 297.3 points, less than three points ahead of Kubacki. However he was usurped by Granerud.

At one stage in the second round there were three Austrians leading the way before the final jumpers got going.

Piotr Zyla was the one to break it up before Kubacki came flying down in the penultimate jump to take the lead from Manuel Fettner and Jan Hoerl.

“This is how ski jumping should be done,” purred Damjan on Eurosport commentary watching the reply of Kubacki’s jump. He added “I really like the position of his arms in the air, they’re really close.”

There was drama in the first round with 2019-20 Four Hills runners-up Marius Lindvik getting disqualified due to an issue with his suit.

Speaking during the first jump Eurosport expert Martin Schmitt said “Perfect conditions for high-class jumps,” adding that the “side-wind is increasing, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Of the leading contenders he said “the mental game already on for overall title,” as the big guns tried to psyche each other out ahead of the second jump.

We now go to the two Austrian events.

The first will take place at Innsbruck on January 3 and 4 before the finale at Bischofshofen on January 5 and 6.

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