Ski jumping: Questions and answers about the start of the Four Hills Tournament

The Four Hills Tournament is just around the corner – in a winter whose highlight is the Olympic Games in February. In this respect, the competitions in Oberstdorf, Garmisch, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen are also seen as an indicator of the form with which the athletes travel to the Olympic ski jump in Val di Fiemme. But how good are the German jumpers in shape amid the crisis of their figureheads Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger? Who are the favorites? Are women finally allowed to jump on four ski jumps? And what happened to the suit scandal? The most important questions and answers about the 74th edition of the Ski Jumping Grand Slam.

Who are the favorites?

At the most recent Four Hills Tournament, the jumpers from Austria, led by winner Daniel Tschofenig, Stefan Kraft and Jan Hörl, dominated almost at will. Your final result a year ago: Tschofenig 1194.4 points, Hörl 1193.0, Kraft 1190.3 – what a heart-stopping finale. The fourth-placed Norwegian Johann André Forfang was more than 40 points behind Tschofenig. This winter, however, the wind has changed. The Slovenian Domen Prevc has been almost unbeatable in the World Cup so far, winning five competitions in a row – until the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi broke Prevc’s series in Engelberg. Top favorites Prevc and Kobayashi, who won the 2019, 2022 and 2024 tours, lead the overall World Cup, ahead of Prevc’s compatriot Anze Lanisek, another co-favorite this year.

If Kobayashi wins again, he will catch up with Jens Weißflog with four wins. Only one jumper has ever been better in the history of the journey from Oberstdorf via Garmisch, Innsbruck to Bischofshofen: Janne Ahonen lifted the golden eagle five times for the winner. But the Austrians Tschofenig, Kraft and Hörl should not be underestimated: Last year, like now, they started from the chasing role – the result is known. Of course there are also secret favorites: Ren Nikaido from Japan is one of them, and, yes, really, the Germans Felix Hoffmann and Philipp Raimund. You have recently jumped onto the podium several times.

What about the Germans?

As different in character as the quiet Hoffmann, 28, and the eloquent Raimund, 25, they have one thing in common. In the Olympic winter of all times, she is carrying the most powerful wind of her career so far. They have exactly that sense of flight and self-confidence that can carry them far forward – even if it would be foolhardy to see them as potential successors to the last German tour winner Sven Hannawald. Hardly anyone talks about Andreas Wellinger, 30, and Karl Geiger, 32, who are in poor form this winter, when it comes to having a say about the top places. Shortly before Christmas, national coach Stefan Horngacher said: “I don’t think we need to have high hopes for the tour.” Pius Paschke, 35, is also a long way from his winter form from last year. Perhaps someone else from the DSV camp will also take center stage: Vladimir Zografski. He’s Bulgarian, but he trains with the Germans, who support the small association. At the World Championships in Trondheim, the 32-year-old came ninth on the normal hill.

Is everyone still talking about the suit?

Since the World Championships in Trondheim, where the biggest scandal in recent ski jumping history occurred at the beginning of March, a lot has changed in the suit that is so crucial for the flight. At that time, the Norwegian team was caught tampering with the suits of their top jumpers. The coaching and support team has since been largely replaced; jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang were suspended for three months in the summer and have served their sentence. Lindvik was also able to keep his individual World Championship title from Trondheim. Many jumpers and coaches from other nations found the ban too short and the handling of the affair half-hearted. Lindvik shot back: “The ones who scream the loudest are the ones who were the worst.”

In the meantime, most people in the scene no longer want to talk about the topic, national coach Horngacher summed up: “The topic is over. So, thank God, no one is discussing it anymore.” At least something is happening: the suit has to be tighter now, and there are also stricter material controls and tougher penalties – including yellow and red cards. The World Federation Fis appointed the former Austrian jumper Mathias Hafele as the new full-time material controller, a suit expert highly praised and valued by coaches and athletes alike.

What about the women?

They still don’t have equal rights at the Four Hills Tournament. Why? Because they don’t have a Four Hills Tournament. For the third time they are carrying out the so-called Two-Nights Tour, with stops in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (December 31st) and Oberstdorf (January 1st). One can argue about the timing, after all, the men’s New Year’s competition in Garmisch, which will attract the most attention, starts a good two hours before the start of the women’s decision in Oberstdorf. But there is hope: In the winter of 2026/27, the tour’s last remaining floodlit ski jump on Bergisel in Innsbruck should finally shine. This would pave the way for a women’s Four Hills Tournament, which previously seemed utopian due to the lack of floodlights and the tight schedule. “That would be a pretty big step, but not the last step,” said DSV jumper Katharina Schmid, 29, shortly before Christmas: “I think more would have to happen so that we are really equal.” For example financially.

Because women continue to lag behind when it comes to pay. Although their prize money was increased slightly compared to last season to 5,000 euros for a World Cup victory, the men’s prize money was also increased, to 15,000 euros for the winner of a World Cup. After all, embarrassments like last winter are probably a thing of the past. At that time, Selina Freitag, as the winner of the qualification in Garmisch, received a shower gel and four towels as a prize – the men’s qualification winner Jan Hörl received 3,000 Swiss francs. Friday sparked debate when she announced her, well, win. On Christmas Day 2025, the DSV announced: “For the first time, the full qualification bonus will be awarded to women.” At least a little tailwind for women on the way to equal treatment.

In terms of sport, the greatest German hopes rest on Friday and on Agnes Reisch, 26; The seven-time world champion Katharina Schmid is still having problems in what is expected to be her last season. Internationally, the Slovenian long-time winner Nika Prevc, 20, has faced serious competition: The Japanese Nozomi Maruyama, 27, leads the ranking by a long way ahead of Prevc.

Are “neutral athletes” starting from Russia?

The Fis granted neutral athlete status to two Russian ski jumpers two days before Christmas. Danil Sadrejew, 22, from Tatarstan, and Mikhail Nazarov, 31, from Moscow, can now take part in World Cups again – including the Four Hills Tournament, whose jumping counts as World Cups. It is still unclear whether they will actually qualify for the opener in Oberstdorf on December 28th. Sadreev won silver with the Russian mixed team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Russia’s best ski jumper Yevgeny Klimov, on the other hand, has not yet received neutral status. It would be the first start by Russian athletes since the end of February 2022 – headwind from the stands is conceivable. At that time, the Fis had excluded Russian and Belarusian athletes from all competitions because of the war of aggression against Ukraine. At the beginning of December, the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (Cas) partially upheld two lawsuits from Russia and Belarus against the Fis. Accordingly, athletes from the two countries are allowed to take part in FIS qualifying competitions for the 2026 Winter Games under neutral status, provided they meet the criteria of the International Olympic Committee – for example, they do not publicly support the war against Ukraine and have no connections to the military.

Are there still tickets? And who is transmitting?

For the start at the Schattenbergschanze in Oberstdorf, which has traditionally been sold out for weeks, there are only tickets available for the qualification on December 28th; The following day there will only be standing room for children under seven years of age for jumping. Standing room tickets for the New Year’s jump were still available for Garmisch on Friday, and there were still enough tickets for the women’s two-night tour. If you want to watch in Innsbruck, you have to get a VIP ticket for just 588 euros per person – the remaining tickets are sold out. As at all other stations, there is still plenty of space in the stadium for qualifying. For the last stop in Bischofshofen, tickets in several categories are still available not only for the qualification, but also for the decisive jumping of this tour on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze (from 36 euros for adults/18 euros for children).

If you would rather spend the tour comfortably in front of the television: In Germany, ARD will broadcast the opening competition in Oberstdorf (December 29th) and the tour finale in Bischofshofen (January 6th) as well as the associated qualifications. With expert Severin Freund, ZDF is taking over the New Year’s jumping in Garmisch and the Bergisel jumping in Innsbruck (January 4th), also with the qualifications on the previous day.

There are also live broadcasts on TV and streams at Eurosport (which shares the experts Sven Hannawald, Martin Schmitt and Markus Eisenbichler with ARD) and Discovery+, as well as on Dazn. In Austria, all four qualifications and competitions will be broadcast live on ORF 1. In Switzerland, the four tour competitions are shown on SRF two.