Philipp Raimund from Oberstdorf came second behind Domen Prevc in the qualification for the start of the tour. Another local hero makes a mistake.
Favorites, these are the others this time. This is how the German ski jumpers approach this 74th Four Hills Tournament, being themselves “Outsider Favorites”. That’s pretty much what it looked like for a long time during the qualification for the tournament’s opening competition in Oberstdorf, which takes place on Monday evening (live on the Sportschau from 4.30 p.m.).
At least until Philipp Raimund slipped into the running lane shortly before the end: On Sunday evening (December 28th, 2025), it was not surprising that the overall World Cup leader and season dominator Domen Prevc prevailed in the qualification. The local hero Raimund from SC Oberstdorf placed directly behind him as the best German. So Raimund goes into the tour as the most promising “outsider favorite”.
Prevc excels in qualification – Last year’s winner Tschofenig third
“It’s wonderful to have so many people here. It just feels really nice”said Raimund in the Sportschau interview. “Then doing good jumps is twice as cool. Then you can heat up the crowd a bit.”
Raimund sailed to 132.5 meters, while Prevc, who arrived with five wins this season, even sailed to 139.5 meters. He was ultimately 10.7 points ahead of Raimund, who in turn narrowly beat last year’s tour winner, Daniel Tschofenig from Austria.
Six of the nine Germans start the tour on Monday
At least six of the nine German jumpers have qualified for the opening competition of the Four Hills Tournament – Raimund’s outstanding form also gives hope for more. Alongside him, Felix Hoffmann, Pius Paschke, Andreas Wellinger, Constantin Schmid and Luca Roth start the tour on Monday.
Somewhat surprisingly not among them is another local hero: Karl Geiger, who narrowly missed the top 50 in 53rd place – even though he reported positively about his World Cup break and the training days in the past few weeks. “Unfortunately, that’s really a sentence with anhe said in the Sportschau interview.
World Cup returnees Schmid qualifies
“Actually we can only win”national coach Stefan Horngacher had meaningfully reported the day before. Unlike in previous years Wellinger, Paschke or Geiger, this time no German is among the top favorites for the Golden Eagle.
The 32-year-old violinist will now be completely absent from the opener. Instead, others celebrated on Sunday evening, such as the 26-year-old returnee Constantin Schmid, who could possibly replace Geiger at the next competitions. “I was really happy to be here again in front of so many people. It’s quality – and sold out. That’s unbelievable.”
The German knockout duels for Tour start
Philipp Raimund (2/Oberstdorf) – Junshiro Kobayashi (49/Japan)
Felix Hoffmann (12/Suhl) – Andreas Wellinger (39/Ruhpolding)
Pius Paschke (21/Kiefersfelden) – Robin Pedersen (30/Norway)
Constantin Schmid (44/Oberaudorf) – Ryoyu Kobayashi (7/Japan)
Luca Roth (46/Meßstetten) – Jan Hörl (5/Austria)