A Year and a Half Break Ends: The Champion Returns to the World Cup

Stefan Horngacher has announced the names of the athletes who will travel to Lillehammer next week for the World Cup kick-off. Making his return to top-level competition after more than a year off is the decorated and experienced Markus Eisenbichler.

Markus Eisenbichler, Karl Geiger, Stephan Leyhe, Pius Paschke, Philipp Raimund, Adrian Tittel, and Andreas Wellinger are the seven athletes that Horngacher is taking to Lillehammer to mark the beginning of the new World Cup season.

Eisenbichler's nomination can be considered somewhat of a surprise. His last season was very tough as the world champion from Seefeld spent the entire winter in the Continental Cup. Horngacher publicly criticized his approach to summer preparations during the media coverage.

By the end of the season, the jumper had started to show improvement. There were speculations that he would receive a chance to compete in the final events in Planica, but reportedly he preferred not to take advantage of that opportunity, explaining that he wanted to quietly conclude his competition and focus on preparing for the upcoming winter.

It seems that these preparations have paid off. Various German media outlets report that the competition for the last spot in the team was fierce until the last training jump, where Eisenbichler was competing against Constantinen Schmid.

Horngacher's other nominations were not surprising, as they were given to athletes who showed strength in the team last season. Thanks to new regulations favoring medalists from junior world championships, 20-year-old Adrian Tittel has been added to the team.