Before the 74th Four Hills Tournament: Constantin Schmid – will the early starter become a late starter?

As of: December 26, 2025 5:33 p.m

Ski jumper Constantin Schmid from WSV Oberaudorf is part of the national group at the Four Hills Tournament. He was at this point nine years ago.

Four Hills Tournament 2016/17: The name Constantin Schmid appears in the national group for the first time. Schmid had just turned 17 at the time.

The talent from WSV Oberaudorf celebrated his first victory in the Continental Cup a few months later, secured a permanent ticket in the World Cup team and won Olympic bronze with the team in Beijing in 2022 as a 23-year-old, but instead of permanently establishing himself among the world elite, he failed to make his breakthrough.

Schmid most recently in the Continental Cup

The youngster is relegated back to the second division, was only part of the World Cup team sporadically last season and is also in second class this season. His name now appears again at the Four Hills Tournament. The now 26-year-old is part of the national group – just like he was nine years ago.

Schmid will jump in Oberstdorf (December 29th) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (January 1st) – and, if nothing extraordinary happens, will then disappear back into the second ski jumping league.

Bayer and Unbelief take a look

He’s far from the only one who feels this way. Martin Hamann (28) also regularly took part in the World Cup as a young athlete from 2019 to 2023. This winter he has just completed four competitions in the FIS Cup – in the 3rd league, if you will.

Unlike Schmid, Hamann is too far away. Instead, Luca Roth (25), Ben Bayer (21) and Max Unbelief (19) can prove themselves in the national group. It remains to be seen whether they have enough talent, mental strength and grit to compete with the best on a long-term basis.

Weißflog: “Wellinger and Geiger’s technology is no longer enough”

In any case, the German Ski Association urgently needs young talent and currently only has two U30 jumpers, Philipp Raimund (25) and Felix Hofmann (28), who are part of the permanent World Cup team.

Andreas Wellinger (30) and Karl Geiger (32), who have been highly traded in recent years, are in crisis or stuck in a vacuum according to the new regulations. “The technique of Andreas Wellinger and Karl Geiger worked great with the larger suits, now they lack the air cushion that supported them. Their previous technique is no longer sufficient to jump long,” said three-time Olympic champion Jens Weißflog to the Stuttgarter Zeitung shortly before the start of the Four Hills Tournament.

Weißflog had to switch from the parallel style to the V style in the middle of his career. He was able to do this better than anyone else. He was the only athlete to win an individual medal at the Olympic Games in both techniques.

Veterans return after special training

Wellinger and Geiger recently worked on their new jumping style in training and were confident. Both will try to get World Cup points in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen and stay in the team.

Should the duo make a mistake, the chances for the youngsters and perhaps also for Schmid increase. Philipp Raimund, Felix Hoffmann and Pius Paschke are the best examples of how things can quickly go up. Then the early starter Schmid might become the late starter Schmid after all.

Jumps and times

Oberstdorf
December 28th, 4:30 p.m.: Qualification

December 29th, 4:30 p.m.: Singles
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
December 31st, 4:00 p.m.: Qualification

January 1st, 2:00 p.m.: Men, singles
innsbruck
January 3rd, 2:30 p.m.: Qualification

January 4th, 1:30 p.m.: Singles
Bischofshofen
January 5th, 4:30 p.m.: Qualification

January 6th, 4:30 p.m.: Singles

Eyebot

National group