Stefan Kraft celebrated the victory with his teammates. © ANSA / ANNA SZILAGYI

Four Hills Tournament: Austria Hammer at the Start

Austria’s ski jumpers used the opening competition of the 73rd Four Hills Tournament to demonstrate their power.

29 December 2024

From: apa/det

Stefan Kraft led the favored team to a triple victory on Sunday in Oberstdorf, ahead of Jan Hörl and Daniel Tschofenig. The 31-year-old celebrated the 44th World Cup victory of his career, the first of the season. It was the first ÖSV victory in the opening competition of the tournament in eight years, when Kraft also triumphed on the Schattenbergschanze.

Kraft was in top form at the right time. After four podium places in ten jumps, the overall World Cup winner was able to make it to the top for the first time this winter. The Pongauer had already won the opening round of the tournament in 2014 and 2016, and in 2021 he also became world champion in Oberstdorf. "In the summer I always jump such nonsense here," Kraft said on ORF. "But it's just the Four Hills Tournament myth. I know that when I'm up there, I have to go all out. It was really harakiri twice, but it worked out perfectly."

Six jumpers in the race for the tournament victory

After jumps of 138 and 135,5 m, Kraft ended up 3,5 points ahead of Hörl, whose offensive jumping style he says he was inspired by. "That was pure aggression, and it was rewarded," said the veteran. "A triple victory at the start of the tournament is really cool. I pulled it together well and achieved what I set out to do. So I'm very, very happy."

Alex Insam from Val Gardena finished the competition in 34th place. The South Tyrolean jumped 128 meters and collected 132 points, which was not enough to qualify for the second round. The next tournament competition is scheduled for Wednesday with the New Year's jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.