By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- It took a moment for Philipp Raimund to grasp what had just happened. Fractions of a second felt like an eternity before reality set in.
"I did it. I am an Olympic champion, without having won a single World Cup before," the 25-year-old German said after soaring to gold in the men's normal hill ski jumping event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
As family members, teammates and coaches stood frozen in disbelief, emotion swept through the sport's latest and most unlikely champion.
"Unbelievable. Incredible," Raimund said, having just written one of ski jumping's most extraordinary stories.
The irony runs deep. The son of a ski jumping coach, Raimund has lived for flight since childhood, yet for years he has battled a fear of heights. To confront it, he sought help from a mental coach.
The issue never extinguished his passion, but it imposed limits. At times, Raimund withdrew from competitions on larger hills, unable to fully control his physical reactions.
"Most of the time I can manage it," he explained. "During ski jumping it usually works. But before ski flying, on the really big hills, my body sometimes reacts -- and then I can't control my feelings."
Competing on the normal hill at the Olympics may have worked in his favor, particularly after recent disappointments at the Four Hills Tournament and the Ski Flying World Championships.
Long regarded as one of Germany's most gifted jumpers, Raimund had often struggled with emotional control.
"We kept telling him to stay focused and save his energy," said German head coach Stefan Horngacher.
Something shifted with the start of Olympic preparations.
"I have never seen him that focused," Horngacher said. "With the Olympics approaching, something changed. There was a different atmosphere -- one that lifted him."
Leaving doubts and setbacks behind, Raimund summed up his approach with a smile: "Men have the ability not to think at all. That's exactly what I did."
When it mattered most, there was nothing else -- just the jumper, the hill and the moment.
In the stands, his mother Kathrin and his brothers Joel and Fabian cheered wildly. His father Christian, now coaching the Swiss women's team, followed the competition from a training camp in Austria.
Raimund dedicated the gold medal to his family.
"They took me to jumping," he said simply.
His nickname, "Hille," given by his younger sister in childhood, remains part of his identity.
"She couldn't pronounce Philipp back then," he recalled. "And since then, everyone calls me Hille."
There was little time to celebrate.
"No beer, no party," Horngacher said ahead of Tuesday's mixed team event. "He needs sleep and food. After such a stressful competition, a beer might knock him out."
The major celebrations will have to wait. With the mixed event and the large hill competition still to come, Raimund may yet confront the shadows of his past, this time as an Olympic champion. ■
