Hoffmann and Raimund impress in Garmisch qualification
Felix Hoffmann and Philipp Raimund also impressed in the qualification in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the Four Hills Tournament. Raimund in fifth place and Oberstdorf third Hoffmann in eighth solved the compulsory task confidently on New Year’s Eve afternoon and still had some room for improvement. The measure of all things was once again the Slovenian Domen Prevc, who was the high favorite in the New Year’s jump on Thursday (2 p.m. / live on ZDF and Eurosport). goes.
Prevc, who won the qualification and competition in Oberstdorf, jumped to 139.5 m (150.6 points) in front of 7,000 spectators and beat the Austrian Jan Hörl (146.2). His compatriot Stephan Embacher came third (143.2), the super talent increased the hill record by half a meter to 145.5 with a longer run 13 days before his 20th birthday m.
Raimund, who reached 135.0 m (141.8 points), and Hoffmann (134.0/139.7) were at least within striking distance of third place again. Pius Paschke, who missed the second round in Oberstdorf, jumped well and was now in 20th place. The two big German problem children also said goodbye to 2025 significantly improved: Andreas Wellinger, 49th in Oberstdorf, moved as Karl Geiger, who failed to qualify for the opening competition, also made it into the top 50 in 31st place.
Youngster Ben Bayer impressed on equal points with Wellinger in 27th place and is making his second World Cup appearance on Thursday and his premiere in a tour competition. Constantin Schmid (51st), Luca Roth (54th) and Max Un Glaube (65th) did not make it into the top 50. For them, the tour should be over – national coach Stefan Horngacher is only allowed to take five jumpers instead of nine to the two competitions in Austria.
Meanwhile, the next top jumper after the Slovenian Timi Zajc was disqualified in Oberstdorf. This time, piquantly, it was a Norwegian: Halvor Egner Granerud, 2022/23 tour winner, was disqualified because the leg length of his suit was two millimeters too long – he was missing from the Norwegians’ exposure scandal during the 2025 World Cup.
The qualification day was overshadowed by a serious fall by the Estonian Artti Aigro. The 26-year-old fell during training and had to be brought off the run with the sled. Aigro suffered a partial rupture of the medial ligament in his left knee and a fracture in his left foot and is threatened with being eliminated from the Olympics.
