Ski jumping: kick-off for the 2024/2025 Four Hills Tournament
The 73rd Four Hills Tournament kicked off on Saturday, with the first stop, as always, in Oberstdorf (Germany) in front of an audience of over 16,500.
As a reminder, you need to be in the top 50 to qualify for tomorrow’s first round, which will take place as usual according to the KO systems rule. So the fiftieth-placed player on the day will face the winner of the qualifying round, the forty-ninth-placed player will face the second-placed player, and so on. There is one simple rule about the contests: only the winners of these duels will go through to the final round, along with five lucky losers.
Austria shines in neighbouring countries
On the German night, it was American Casey Larson who had the honour (or misfortune) of facing Daniel Tschofenig on Sunday. The Austrian won the qualifier by a landslide with a jump of 141.5 metres, ahead of team-mates Stefan Kraft (137.5 metres), Michael Hayboeck (141 metres), Jan Hoerl (140.5 metres) and Maximilian Ortner (135.5 metres).
The Wünderteam took the top 5 places ahead of Pius Paschke (139 metres), who carries on his shoulders all Germany’s hopes of finally bringing the Golden Eagle home after a 24-year drought. Gregor Deschwanden (131 metres), Johann Andre Forfang (134 metres), Karl Geiger (134 metres) and Killian Peier (132.5 metres) rounded out the top 10.
Valentin Foubert qualified
Good news for the French clan: Valentin Foubert has made the cut and will be taking part in the KO systems. Thirty-second on the day with 122 metres, he will face American Tate Frantz (123.5 metres), nineteenth in the qualifiers.
Among the day’s disappointments was Swiss legend Simon Ammann (115 metres), the first non-qualifier. Roman Koudelka (112.5 metres) and Dawid Kubacki (115.5 metres) also failed to make the cut and will be absent from the competition.
Full results
- The French selection for the Two Nights Tour, the Tournée des Quatre Tremplins, the Engelberg Continental Cup and the Villach World Cup
- What you need to know about the forthcoming Tournée des Quatre Tremplins
