Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf: Prevc escapes the competition, Hoffmann subsequently takes third place

Domen Prevc flew and flew and flew, and he didn’t want to stop flying at all. He landed at 140 meters in the second round of the opening competition of the Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf. His first jump even carried him 1.5 meters further. And Prevc, who had previously achieved five World Cup victories in a row up to the stop in Engelberg, didn’t even raise his arms in the air in such an exuberant way. The 26-year-old Slovenian already knows how to cheer. In the end, Prevc was 17.5 points ahead of defending tour champion Daniel Tschofenig from Austria. These are worlds in ski jumping.

Since Prevc’s second-placed compatriot Timi Zajc was subsequently disqualified because his suit was too big, Felix Hoffmann, who initially placed fourth (132.5/136 meters), ended up on the podium. Philipp Raimund (136/133 meters), who, like Hoffmann, had jumped outstandingly at times in the World Cup in recent weeks, also impressed in fifth place. The duo had already confirmed the hopes of their compatriots in the first round, Hoffmann ended up in sixth place and Raimund in seventh place. Now they are at least going to the second competition on New Year’s Day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with the feeling that they can keep up with the big boys.

“Fortunately, I was able to be on the podium for the award ceremony, which was the icing on the cake. Especially in Oberstdorf, where it’s not always easy,” said Hoffmann: “The audience inspired me.” Raimund was self-critical: “The jumps weren’t at the best level yet, but I’m very satisfied. The Domen is just flying at a different level.” And national coach Stefan Horngacher almost raved: “They performed very well, made great jumps and withstood the pressure in the stadium under the backdrop.”

The 74th edition of the Four Hills Tournament began in Oberstdorf with a dream day full of sunshine, a ski jump on Schattenberg that was sold out with 25,500 spectators since the beginning of September – and, with the exception of Hoffmann and Raimund, a rather sobering first round for the German ski jumpers. Pius Paschke (33rd), Luca Roth (45th), Andreas Wellinger (49th) and Constantin Schmid (50th) all missed the final round – a bitter disappointment, especially for Paschke and the already weak Wellinger: “Today I had a really hard time again with the feeling that I was driving cleanly through the radius. It’s just a drag and drop when I go into flight much too quickly, just short of it Edge, without energy and height gain,” said Wellinger. The team’s balance sheet didn’t really read well, even after Karl Geiger’s exit from qualifying, who ended up in 53rd place on Sunday.

Oberstdorf had dressed up for the ski jumpers’ Grand Slam start, even if the media volume has noticeably decreased since the corona pandemic. Spectators are still streaming into the market town in Oberallgäu, DJ Niklas Bitzenauer hosted an après-ski party in the center on Monday, and live music with the “Riedberg Partyband” was on the program at 7:30 p.m. By midday, a kilometer-long queue of ski jumping fans had already fought its way through the town center up Roßbichlstrasse and Schanzenstrasse to the Arena am Schattenberg.

Past the steam beer brewery (motto: “Where hearts jump”) with its strictly limited ski jumping beer, the Oberstdorf wood carving factory, the traditional inn “Zum wilde Männle”, the elite sports school including the DSV training base and the Schützenhaus (“last stand in front of the ski jump”). At the top, wearing black, red and gold hats, a group of eight fans from SG Dinkelsbühl-Segringen predicted the result: “Raimund third, he was strong in the qualification, Hoffmann in the top ten,” said their spokesman Jörg Müller. It was 20 years ago that they were last ski jumping in Oberstdorf, and now they were once again mingling with the spectators in the full stadium. A couple in the group celebrated their wedding anniversary, and their 86-year-old grandfather was also there – but the group was just slightly wrong with their prediction.

Actually, Oberstdorf was often a good place for the Germans, with a total of 23 daily victories they lead the historical rankings by far. However, neither Wellinger nor Geiger managed to win the tour in their most recent opening victories in 2023 and 2020. Now they were literally crashing. “It was foreseeable that it would be difficult. We have to accept that at the moment, but that shouldn’t detract from the performance of the other two. Because it was exceptionally good,” said Horngacher. Especially since Hoffmann and Raimund, as the national coach described, would have more problems on the Oberstdorfer Schanze: “Garmisch suits them much better.”

Prevc is now going into the three upcoming competitions as the top favorite

At the same time, after the first competition, it looks like the 24-year-old longing to choose a successor to the last German overall winner Sven Hannawald remains a longing. Hoffmann is already 19 points behind Prevc, but only two points behind second-place Tschofenig.

Prevc, the dominator of this season, is now the top favorite for this tour in the next three competitions. Before Christmas, the Slovenian said in Engelberg: “The secret is to be consistent every day and to work towards being the best every day.” And when asked whether he now sees himself as the favorite for the Four Hills Tournament, he replied: “I think I should adopt this mentality. On the other hand, I also have to remain humble and be aware that the work won’t get done by itself.”

But it somehow looked as if Prevc was sliding down the Schattenbergschanze as if guided by magic.