Severin Freund: “I knew that I could jump very well before the season”
Born in 1988 with his first World Cup performance in 2007 in Engelberg, exactly the same year he graduated high school, Severin Freund finishes his best season ever and rises to be the next German ski jumping star after already retired Sven Hannawald and Martin Schmitt.
Gold medal in the Olympic team event in Sochi together with Andreas Wank, Marinus Kraus and Andreas Wellinger, gaining the Ski Flying World Champion title in Harrachov, seven World Cup victories, five second places and the overall third place in the World Cup make him finish the 2013/14 season with a big smile on his face.
“It’s mostly positive stuff that happened to me this season. Of course the Olympics with the medal and the ski flying World Champs have been definitely highlights of my career,” he told me in Planica.
“I knew that I could jump very well before the season. I showed it through the last couple of years. You can never say how the season is exactly going to go.”
His way to success was not always as shiny as it might look now. After securing a World Cup place in 2007 and winning a team gold in 2008 Junior Championships in Zakopane he was relegated back to Continental Cup team due to his poor results.
With his World Cup come back in 2010 he started to climb the success ladder presenting all the hard work he has put into the sport. In the next four consecutive years Severin finished World Cup seasons on 7th, 8th, 4th and finally 3rd place this year in Planica. What is more this season’s ski flying championship from Harrachov is his first individual medal from a big ski jumping event.
However even this season, with 28th place in the first World Cup event in Klingenthal and 16th place in the final Four Hills Tournament classification, the worst in his career, didn’t start the way he probably wanted it to start.
“Within one season it’s hard to stay on a constant level all year long, so you have some peaks and some lows. I like the hills at the end of the season a bit better than in January so it’s just nice that it was the end of the season like this,” he explains the reasons behind his initial lack of form.
With the end of winter it’s time to relax before the next action packed year. Severin reveals his plans for the nearest future:
“I’m gonna take some days off and then start training again because next year is also a big season. I don’t really have any favourite holiday destination. I try to see as much as possible. The best thing is just to travel to a new destination every time. So everything from seaside vacation to city trips or some sport trips.”
Good luck in 2014/15 Severin!
