Crazy career choice This ski jumping shooting star is afraid of heights
Philipp Raimund is the ace of the German ski jumpers in the still young Olympic winter. The first World Cup victory should not be long in coming - even though Raimund suffers from a fear of heights.
09.12.2025, 11:54
09.12.2025, 12:12
dpa
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- Philipp Raimund has become the new ski jumping hope for Germany in recent weeks and made it onto the podium twice within two days in Wisla.
- "I've managed to raise my basic level and get more stability, calm and harmony into my jumps," says Raimund, explaining his explosion in performance.
- The 25-year-old's performance is all the more astonishing given that he suffers from a fear of heights and even had to miss a competition at the end of last season. "I work a lot with a mental coach and am in good hands there," says Raimund.
The second award ceremony within 24 hours also put a big smile on Philipp Raimund's face. "It feels really good and it's a great feeling to be up there at the front. I wouldn't have expected that before the summer," said Germany's new ski jumping hopeful.
After second place on Saturday, Raimund jumped onto the podium again in third place at the second World Cup in Wisla, Poland, raising hopes of a successful Olympic winter. The Oberstdorfer's emotions were correspondingly high. "That makes me proud. I'm very happy," said the 25-year-old. This time he was 5.5 points short of his first career World Cup victory, compared to 6.8 points the day before. "I'll try to keep working on my landing. There's still room for improvement," said Raimund and admitted: "It wasn't quite so easy today."
Horngacher expects first Raimund victory soon
With his strong performances, the season's newcomer underlined his leap in quality, which had already been hinted at with top-five finishes at the World Championships in Trondheim. The overall victory in the Summer Grand Prix at the latest gave him the certainty that he could be among the front runners. Raimund's formula for success: "I've managed to raise my basic level and achieve more stability, calm and harmony in my jumps."
National coach Stefan Horngacher therefore expects that his protégé's first World Cup victory will not be long in coming. The opportunity already presented itself on Saturday, when Raimund was only outdone by Prevc. "I had hoped that he would win today, because he showed a great jump in the second round. But Domen also flew a long way, we have to accept that," said Horngacher and predicted: "He will certainly win at some point. It's only a matter of time."
Mental training to combat fear of heights
For years, podium places seemed unattainable for Raimund, who has been on the World Cup circuit since 2019. Now they are slowly becoming a habit. Which is also due to his new relaxed attitude. "He's just calm at the moment and is in the flow," praised fellow racer Karl Geiger, adding: "He's got an incredible amount of boom in his knuckles and is doing very, very well at the moment."
While the former flagship jumpers Geiger and Andreas Wellinger are far from their best form two months before the Winter Olympics, Raimund is flying high. Even though he sometimes suffers from a fear of heights. "I work a lot with a mental coach and I'm in good hands there," reported Raimund, noting: "It's going well."
That wasn't always the case. At the end of the past season, Raimund had to miss out on ski flying in Planica, Slovenia, for example. "As some of you may know, I have a fear of heights. I usually have it under control, and it's not normally a problem in ski jumping," he explained on Instagram. "However, from time to time, especially in ski flying, my body reacts without me being able to influence it. Then I lose control for a second and a half and can only watch myself while being held in a claw, so to speak."
