Every male Austrian ski jumper to achieve an individual podium in the 2020s
Stefan Kraft (b. 1993) - 19x1st, 13x2nd, 16x3rd since the start of 2020
Jan Hoerl (b. 1998) - 2x1st, 2x2nd, 2x3rd since the start of 2020
Daniel Tschofenig (b. 2002) - 3x3rd since the start of 2020
Manuel Fettner (b. 1985) - 1x2nd, 1x3rd since the start of 2020
Michael Hayboeck (b. 1991) - 2x3rd since the start of 2020
Daniel Huber (b. 1993) - 1x1st, 1x2nd, 1x3rd since the start of 2020
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your Secret Santa, @startgate13!
This season, I was your Secret Santa. I decided to go for your favourite German ski jumper duo Stephan Leyhe and Andreas Wellinger. I hope you will enjoy this little OS as much as I enjoyed writing it. As we are in 2024, I hope you had a wonderful holiday time. May 2024 treat you better than 2023 did.
Greetings: Bettina
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Andreas Wellinger and Stephan Leyhe were spending their little Christmas break together at or around home. They planned to visit the local Advent market on one of the days before Christmas. On a fine, cold and snowy Wednesday morning, Andreas asked his boyfriend if they could go for a little skiing on the nearby course. Stephan was a tiny bit hesitant about the sudden program change. However, after a little persuasion, he went for it. He was thinking. Maybe later, they would check out the market as well. He had asked his love. As an answer, he got only a maybe and a wink with a smirk.
They were skiing for an hour or maybe two. Since it was intense, both of them got tired. Andreas managed to overdo himself. He laid down the snow. He was wheezing for a few moments before Stephan picked him up. Stephan was a bit older, so he could be a momma hen sometimes. So, he embraced his love for long minutes. He did it until Andreas had enough strength in his feet to walk back to their car.
“Darling, how are you feeling?” Stephan asked.
“Better. I think we can go now.” Andreas answered with a faint smile, “I managed to make myself tired.”
“You did. Can we maybe go to the Christmas market? Maybe they have wonderful hot tea, glühwein or something that warms us up,” the older one suggested.
“Why not? I hope that they do.” Andreas replied, “Last year, they had amazing gingerbread hot chocolate. I hope that vendor is here this year as well. Maybe we could get a new mug for our Advent mug collection too.”
After the little chat on the skiing course, Andreas and Stephan went back to their car. They drove home first. Simply because the market was close to it. They decided to walk there. They decided to go hand in hand, as they found the pavement slippery. As they were heading there, they were chatting all the way through the 10-minute journey. They talked about their plans when they would be back at home. Andreas wanted to decorate the tree first and foremost, as they were slowly running out of time. Christmas was only a few days away.
As they arrived at the market, Stephan got inspired by seeing the many gingerbread houses. He wanted to try his hand at making one. He even told his idea to Andreas, who loved it. They quickly agreed on it. They almost never fought over silly things. Furthermore, they were always civil toward each other. It was something that formed the foundation of their relationship.
At the market, Stephan and Andreas spent long minutes finding the vendor with the delicious hot chocolate. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there this year. Andreas became blue. He wished he could have asked what was inside it. Stephan suggested recalling it from his memories. The young German remembered it containing cinnamon and some kind of alcohol that he couldn’t recall. It had given a nice kick to the hot drink.
“I am going to try and recreate it for you.” Stephan advised, “Maybe I will come up with something equally delicious for you. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful. What if we get some glühwein here this year?” Andreas smiled at his love.
“Okay. I have nothing against it.”
“Maybe they have this year’s mug.”
They headed to the first stand, where they sold glühwein. Stephan asked if the seller had the yearly mug. They did, and asked if they would like to have a hot drink in it. They said yes, but they only had one left. Not only that, but they didn’t mind it at all. Stephan was okay with getting his drink in a plastic cup. The older woman gladly served and handed Andreas the mug. The mug was a black and purple one with the silhouette of the town they lived in. They enjoyed their drink while chatting with the people around them. Some asked for photos. Some requested autographs. They gladly fulfilled every wish for the next few hours.
The night was still very young when they finished. Andreas and Stephan had spent almost 4 hours at the market. They didn’t intend to, but they had fun nonetheless. They grabbed the mug and left in the now-falling snow. So, the two Germans went home immediately. They walked carefully, as they didn’t want the newest mug to get damaged or break. They arrived home around 6. It was quite dark already. Andreas asked if Stephan wanted to make the gingerbread house for the Christmas table.
“It can wait.” Stephan smiled and said, “We have roughly 3 days left. Let me make your hot chocolate.”
Andreas thanked his love and went to their sitting area. He stood in the window and watched the falling snow. He was thinking of what the other one had decided to gift him this year. Likewise, he quickly realized the truth. Stephan slowly walked to him with the gingerbread hot chocolate. He handed Andreas his favourite mug. The young German thanked Stephan and took a sip. It was more delicious than the one at the market. He didn’t know why, yet he complimented the other one’s skills. At that moment, he realized something. As Stephan hugged him from behind, a small teardrop of happiness ran down his cheek.
“Are you crying?” Stephan asked Andreas, kissing his cheek. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, my love. "I just realized something,” the young one answered. “This hot chocolate is more delicious than the one we had last year.”
“I am glad that you love it. I tried my best…”
“...and you succeeded. Thank you.”
The boys sat down on the sofa near their fireplace. Stephan wrapped Andreas in an embrace. He complimented his love for a long time. Andreas just blushed as an answer while enjoying the hot chocolate he had received earlier. He realized what Christmas was about. It wasn’t about the gifts someone was about to receive. It was something else. When Stephan asked what it meant, he simply answered:
“Christmas is not about the gifts. It is about being around people whom we love the most. I’ve already received the best gift when I met you for the first time. The best gift in my life is you.”
Hello Everyone! Thank you very much for your input to the post from last friday. I hope we will have many people from all kinds of winter sports to join for this year's (slightly delayed) edition
This year's secret santa includes the same sports as last year:
Alpine Skiing
Biathlon
Cross-country skiing
Freestyle skiing
Nordic combined
Ski jumping
Snowboarding
The specs of the gifts, also the same as last year:
Fanfiction of at least 600 words
Gifset of at least 6 gifs
Fanvid of at least 4 minutes length
Fanmix of at least 10 songs
Fanart of at least 540x810 px
A set of at least 9 icons
A set of at least 4 screenlocks
Dates:
3 december 2023: Sign-up open
8 december 2023: Sign-up close
9/10 december 2023 I will send out your giftee
6 January 2024, 19:00 CET: REVEAL
Other important stuff:
For the reveal: Don't forget to @ your Giftee and to tag your post "wsss2023" so we can all see it too.
If you are away on the day of the reveal, you can queue your post.
If you know that you will be late with your reveal, send your Giftee a short message so they'll know something's coming.
If you realise that you cannot fulfill your secret santa at all, please message me as soon as possible!
Abi x Alex - bad night, good night. New year, new beginnings
Wintersport Secret Santa for @jediskijumper ☺️
Heya, I tried to write a story with two female characters for the first time ever I think. It really made sense to me to take those two, with all their hugs and love for each other and because I really love the whole team Canada. Hope you like it ☺️
3:40am. Alex sighed and turned her phone off again. Those dreams needed to stop. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back to sleep, but all she could think of was this stupid dream. Alex sighed. The images of the dream repeated again and again. Tears, Daniel, a kiss with Abi. Alex reached a point where it felt like Abi was literally haunting her in her dreams. All that just because being close to Abi felt different. Felt the way it did with Daniel.
Some days later Alex arrived at Tschofe's place with a plan in the back of her mind, but she was scared. It was Christmas after all and she wasn't sure if she should tell Daniel everything before. Because what if she wasn't able to stay afterwards? The days went by and Alex almost forgot about talking to Daniel about the topic she tried to avoid for so long now, but it was time to speak the truth and deal with those feelings that slowly creeped up.
It wasn't until a day before their departure when Alex finally found the courage to talk to Daniel. "I need to talk to you about something important. I was scared to do it before Christmas, but I need to do it now, so I might sleep better again.", she stated and sat down on the bed. Daniel looked at her. "What is it?", he asked. "I think I need to break up with you or we need to take a break. I kinda developed feelings for another person and need time to somehow make sense of them. There still are feelings for you, but right now those other feelings seem stronger. I hope you understand that.", Alex explained and started to cry a little. Daniel looked at her in shock. "I...that...I actually also thought about talking to you about this. I somehow questioned my feelings a little and then I need to confess that I heard you talking in your sleep about love towards someone else, but wasn't sure how to talk to you about it." he said and wrapped his arms around Alex. Alex cried and remained silent. "It's Abi, isn't it?", Tschofe asked after a while. Alex nodded. "I don't know how it started, but I started to feel the same way about her that I also felt about you and then I started to dream about her literally every night.", she explained and looked at Tschofe. "I think I get what you mean. Be sure, that I'm there for you, if you need me and I'll be happy for you, if it works out with Abi.', said Tschofe and smiled. "So, we'll stay friends?", Alex asked. Tschofe chuckled slightly. "Oh, I hope we do.", he said and wrapped his arm around Alex. "Thank you for understanding me.", said Alex and wiped her tears away.
The night before the two nights tour started, team Canada came back together so Abi shared her room with Nicole again. In the middle of the night, Abi was haunted by a bad dream and woke up crying. "Nicole, Nicole.", she said, trying to wake her teammate up. "Hmmpfff.", Nicole mumbled and slowly woke up. "I'm so sorry to wake you up, but I...I...I had a bad dream.", Abi said quietly. Nicole's eyes widen as she noticed that Abi was crying. She just wrapped her arms around Abi and caressed her back. "Tell me about it if you want.", Nicole said. Abi breathed in and out for a moment and then started to explain. "I have feelings for Alex for some time now and I've had a lot of dreams about her and somehow my brain decided to play me and give me a shitty dream. Basically Alex was laughing at me about my feelings and then Tschofe was calling me names and told me to back off from his girlfriend. I think I need to tell Alex about my feelings pretty soon." Nicole nodded understandingly. "Do you have a time in mind?", she asked. "Before new years, you know, starting free into the new year and everything.", Abi explained and chuckled slightly. "And what about Decker, did you tell him?", Nicole asked. "He knows for some time already.", Abi answered. "So, next step is finding a moment to talk to Alex?", Nicole asked. "Yes, but it has to be soon.", Abi smiled slightly.
Garmisch felt like a dream for Abi and slightly like a nightmare for Alex. "I'm so proud of you.", Alex smiled brightly and wrapped her arms tightly around Abi. The hug lasted longer than expected, both soaking in the feeling of being so close to eachother. "Abi, you need to go to the podium presentation thing.", Lea said next to the still close teammates. "I'll be back soon.", Abi mumbled, grabbed her stuff and headed over to Eirin and Nika. After every official thing, Abi came back to the team and was hugged by everyone again. "You look even better on the podium than usual.", Alex mumbled as she hugged Abi again. "Would love to share it with you next time.", Abi countered and chuckled slightly. "Hopefully.", Alex smiled and left her arm wrapped around Abi's waist. "Actually, can we talk some time tomorrow?", Abi asked and smiled slightly. "Before breakfast?", Alex suggested. Abi nodded. "I'll pick you up from your room then."
"We could just switch the pairings for our rooms so that you two are in a room and I'll go with Natalie.", Nicole suggested. "That's probably even better.", said Alex and looked at Abi and Natalie. They both nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm fine with that.", said Natalie with a hint of confusion in her voice.
The two hour drive to Oberstdorf flew by quickly and even quicker Abi and Alex fell asleep in their respective beds, both glad that it wasn't a double room with only one bed. After they both finished their routine in the morning, Alex looked at Abi. "So eh, we could talk now, I guess.", she said and tried to not stare at her friend. "Yeah, I should probably tell you what this is about. I fell in love with someone else and broke up with Decker. And...", Abi sighed and looked at Alex. Alex looked at her in shock. "Don't tell me that you also broke up with him during the Christmas break?", she asked. "Also? And no, I didn't.", Abi answered. "I broke up with Daniel.", Alex said with an almost whispering tone. "Why?", asked Abi. "There might also be someone else.", Alex answered and blushed. "Wait, what?", mumbled Abi and needed a moment to collect herself. Alex looked at Abi and smiled slightly. "What do we do now?", she asked and laughed a little, even though she didn't exactly feel like it. "I'll tell you about my person and then you about your's. If that's okay for you.", Abi suggested. "Sounds good to me. So, who's the lucky person?", asked Alex, trying to hide her disappointment and anxiety.
Abi sighed loudly and looked to the ground. "It's you. I developed feelings for you.", she mumbled, still understandable for Alex. "And I also developed feelings for you oh my godness.", Alex countered and smiled brightly, tears filling up her eyes. Abi looked up, directly into Alex's eyes. "Are you serious?", she asked. Alex nodded enthusiastically. "I wanted to discover my feelings more, to be really sure about it and then yesterday happened and it felt so good, so wonderful to be close to you. Everything just felt so right.", Alex explained and shifted closer to Abi. "I know what you mean.", said Abi and pulled Alex closer to her. Alex smiled and slowly closed the gap in between them until their lips were almost touching. "May I?", asked Abi. "You may.", Alex answered and closed her eyes.
Abi gently pressed her lips against Alex's and pulled her friend even closer into this sensitive kiss. Their hearts beating in their chests, shivers running down their spines and their hands intertwined. Those feelings were new, but felt so right to both of them.
Suddenly, someone was knocking at their door, making them end the kiss. "Abi, Alex, it's breakfast time.", Nicole said loudly. "We're coming.", said Alex and quickly put on her shoes. Abi did the same and not even a minute later, Alex opened the door with one hand, holding onto Abi's hand with the other. Nicole and Natalie looked at them and suddenly noticed their intertwined hands. "Something is different in the way you are holding each other's hands.", Natalie pointed out. Alex and Abi looked at each other knowingly and giggled a little. "Do we tell them?", Alex asked with a bright smile. "Yes. And yes it's different, because we are in love.", Abi answered and looked at their teammates. "Oh my, congrats.", said Natalie and pulled both her friends into a hug. "I'm so happy for you two.", Nicole said and wrapped her arms around them as well. "You also want to tell the other team members?", Natalie asked. "Hmm, maybe later.", answered Abi and Alex nodded in agreement.
They continued their day and preparation for the qualifications the same way as usual, but with the difference that Abi and Alex tried to kiss and touch whenever no one was looking. Before they had to head up the hill in the evening, Abi and Alex stood in the team room and kissed. "Good luck, honey.", said Alex and petted Abi's shoulder. "Good luck, my love.", said Abi.
As one of the last jumpers, Alex sat down and then jumped. "Oh, that's a good ond.", Abi almost screamed immediately ran to Alex as soon as it was possible. "You did so well.", said Abi and hugged her girlfriend. "Thanks.", said Alex blushed a little and smiled. In the end Alex even won the qualification. "So, so good.", said Abi and pulled Alex into a tight hug. "thank you much.", said Alex and was somehow not able to let go of Abi.
Later that evening, just before midnight, the whole team and most of the other teams gathered outside. "10", someone screams suddenly. They count down and as soon as the countdown is at 0, Alex can't hold herself together and gave Abi a kiss, after a quick look around. "I love you and I'm forever grateful to have you in my life.", said Abi and wrapped her arms around Alex. "I'm glad we figured this out before the year ended.", Alex said and chuckled a little. "You are the most perfect start into the new year.", said Abi. ,"And you the best person I could've imagined for my new Years eve Kiss.", said Alex and gave Abi another quick kiss. "I love you." "I love you too.", said Abi and shifted her eyes back to the rockets and fire crackers. "Cheers to our new and different life in 2024.", said Alex after a while. "Looking forward to a lot of hugs and kisses and hopefully a shared podium.", said Abi and smiled brightly.
hii @kupinekrzak, this is your secret santa!! here's a little pintu from when he won the alpine combined in bansko, 2019 (picked purely bc he looked cute <3)
It is still 6th January so technically - I am not late
Practically I am past the posting time so I am very sorry
Either way - @rataccident hi hello there, it is me, your winter secret santa this year
Very happy belated Christmas and New Year!
Karl became the main subject of this gift as soon as I remembered that he won in Klingenthal - using the first competition, where I think the happiness was the biggest. And I must say, I really enjoyed making it
I hope that you like those wallpapers! And once agaib, happy belated Christmas and New Year!
This year I thought I‘d give drawing some fanart a try and here is the result. Since Sturla is very dear to you, it only made sense to me to make something bright and happy. 🌻
I hope you had a nice little winter break and can go into the new year just as bright as Sturla smiles. ☀️
