Philipp Aschenwald came in the top 30 in the first two competitions of the Four Hills Tournament. The ÖSV eagle is currently jumping quickly blind.

Munich / Innsbruck – Ski jumpers are generally among the bravest athletes, one would like to say quickly. YOU rush down a steep hill with a monkey tooth and then plunge down into the depths. Good for those who have all their senses with them.

With all the pace and adrenaline it is of course elementary that you have everything in view and see well. Or is it not? ÖSV-Adler Philipp Aschenwald is flying blind in this year’s Four Hills Tournament! The Tyrolean suffers from a rare eye disease like the Austrian courier reported.

Four Hills Tournament: blind quickly! Philipp Aschenwald suffers from a rare eye disease

Aschenwald is quickly blind in the left eye, so his eyesight is hardly available. A routine check-up revealed that the 26-year-old was keratoconus – a rare eye disease in which the cornea curves. Without timely treatment, it threatens to become thinner and thinner and to dry out.

“I see like a mole in my left eye,” says Aschenwald, who underwent an operation in October last year. Actually, he should now jump with hard lenses. Problem: They didn’t arrive in time for the Four Hills Tournament! “The lenses have to be individually adjusted,” reveals Aschenwald: “I ordered them, but they won’t arrive until after the tour. At the moment I’m on my way without lenses. “

Despite the blatant handicap, things are going well for the Austrian. 22nd place in Oberstdorf at the start and 27th place in the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Now it’s off to the homeland, on Tuesday at 1.30 p.m. the next tour event will take place on the Bergisel ski jump in Innsbruck.

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“I am glad that my right eye and my brain can compensate this handicap so well,” says Aschenwald, who is aggressive despite the impairment: “There has not yet been a competition that would have made me happy. I don’t like being in midfield. I don’t want to say that everything sucks because of my eyes, ”said the Zillertal.

Nevertheless, Aschenwald is already happy when the lenses are finally delivered. When he jumped with it that time, he was completely perplexed: “I thought to myself: Are you stupid, now I can see everything in HD!” His current performances are all the more common. It will be interesting to see how far things will go for him in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. (smk)