The German ski jumper Felix Hoffmann surprisingly took third place in the opening competition of the 74th Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf. At the end of the rounds, the Thuringian was initially in fourth place – behind the first-placed top favorite Domen Prevc from Slovenia as well as his compatriot Timi Zajc and Daniel Tschofenig Austriawho first finished tied for second.
However, twenty minutes after the award ceremony, Zajc was disqualified because of a non-compliant jump suit. This moved Hoffmann to third place. Philipp Raimund ultimately came fifth.
“I had to quickly dig out my start number again and then get on the podium. But there was still an award ceremony – fortunately. That was the icing on the cake in this competition,” said Hoffmann. “It was a lot of fun, I wanted to soak it all up. I’m super happy.”
Zajc’s suit was three millimeters too big at the crotch, as world association chief controller Mathias Hafele announced. “It’s not much, but it’s too much,” said Hafele. Hafele had no complaints about the suit of the superior Prevc. It was only in February and March that the Norwegian team’s manipulated suits at the Ski Jumping World Championships triggered a cheating scandal.
Top favorite Prevc achieved first place with a clear lead
The competition’s top favorite, Domen Prevc, jumped 141.5 and 140 meters and achieved a total of 316.7 points at the start. Hoffmann jumped 132.5 and 136 meters and received 297.3 points. This puts him just behind second-placed Tschofenig with 299.2 points. Raimund jumped 136 and 133 meters and got 295.6 points. “Except for the cathedral, everything is close together,” said Hoffmann on ARD.
Looking ahead, national coach Stefan Horngacher said: “We can’t influence what Prevc does.” But they withstood the pressure, “Felix in particular performed really well. It’s our turn.”
Raimund best German in the overall World Cup
The 28-year-old Thuringian Hoffmann has taken part in the World Cup several times in recent years. Hoffmann celebrated his first podium finish with third place at the World Cup opener in Lillehammer, Norway.
The 25-year-old Raimund has improved from a talented athlete to a model jumper in the Horngacher team. Like Hoffmann, he is still waiting for his first individual victory in the World Cup. But he has established himself among the world’s best. In the six competitions directly before the tour He was only worse than fourth place once. He is the best German in the overall World Cup.
Wellinger and Paschke are eliminated in the first round
As favorites of the Four Hills Tournament This winter the overall World Cup leader Prevc from Slovenia and the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi, who has already won the tour three times – but only reached seventh place on the first day. Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke, who traveled to the tour last winter as the leader in the overall World Cup, were eliminated in the first round. Karl Geiger had already failed in qualifying.
It was the first day of competition in the Four Hills Tournament. Traditionally, jumping takes place on two German and two Austrian ski jumps. Next up is the traditional New Year’s jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Then it continues in Austria: first in Innsbruck on January 4th and finally in Bischofshofen, where the final decision is made two days later.
In addition to the width, the posture scores and wind points also play an important role. The points from each jump are added together. Whoever has the most points after the last jump in Bischofshofen on January 6th can look forward to the winner’s trophy – the golden eagle. The German team has been waiting for an overall tour victory since Sven Hannawald’s triumph in 2002.
