Gregor Deschwanden and Pius Paschke: Two oldies, who have only come of age in ski jumping, will be the focus of the upcoming World Cup weekend in Engelberg.
20.12.2024, 04:01
20.12.2024, 07:10
SDA
The Lucerne native and the Bavarian are representing Switzerland and Germany this season with results that hardly anyone would have believed they could achieve a month ago. Deschwanden is number 5 in the world, while Paschke is the clear number 1 with five victories in eight competitions. The 33-year-old and the 34-year-old even stood on the podium together twice at the start of the winter. In Deschwanden's podium finishes as runner-up in Wisla and Titisee-Neustadt, the German was third and first.
Deschwanden and Paschke are performing better than ever before in their careers. The Swiss jumped into the top 11 eight times in a row - a personal record. And Paschke has celebrated five of his six World Cup victories in recent weeks. And his premiere was not so long ago either: last season he won the first of two competitions in Engelberg.
Even a layman can see the progress
The two have done their homework properly over the summer: the take-off is so precise that they achieve the optimum flight curve, always remain in balance and, above all, maximize aerodynamics in order to increase the flight distance. In a video from Swiss-Ski, Deschwanden compares his jumps from Engelberg in 2012 and 2023. "At the premiere, even the layman can see the mistakes, now the system closes cleanly 10 to 15 m after the jump," analyzes the man from Horw.
A month ago, Deschwanden reviewed the summer training in a small media circle at Kloten airport before traveling to the World Cup opener in Lillehammer. "The technical picture of the jump is there, and I was able to call it up in training. Now I hope that it will also work in the competition," he said at the time. In the meantime, he has dispelled these doubts in Lillehammer, Ruka, Wisla and Titisee-Neustadt.
He tries to make the jump a little more radical, to bring his body and skis into the flight system even faster, to take even more speed into the lower part of the slope. "If I can do that, I'll be at the front," he emphasized in Kloten. His assessment proved to be correct, although he lacked internal competition in the training sessions.
Deschwanden also let it be known what is on his bucket list: "The first World Cup victory". The young Austrian Daniel Tschofenig and Paschke have been ahead of him so far this winter. "As an athlete, however, I prefer consistency to a chance victory," he added. In the knowledge that with consistently high performances, the pendulum will swing to his side one day.
Perhaps this will be the case in Engelberg. He has already taken off in 23 World Cup jumps on the Titlis hill. His only two top ten results came last winter with a 6th and 8th place. Last year, he started the season similarly well before a dip came with the tour. This slump should not happen now.
Deschwanden, who has always stood in the shadow of Simon Ammann or Killian Peier in the past, now wants to become a consistent podium jumper like Paschke at an advanced ski jumping age.
Perseverance pays off
So far, there have been four Swiss home victories at the foot of the Titlis - three of them by Simon Ammann. The four-time Olympic champion will be competing again this year. The fourth success was achieved by Andreas Küttel. Deschwanden would love to add his name to the list of winners on his home hill.
But the favorite is Pius Paschke: the father of two small children is in the flow of his life. This is all the more astonishing because the late starter only became a regular member of the A squad at the age of 27. Before that, his performances were not even good enough for the B team. He shows a perseverance that Deschwanden also demonstrates.
