The German ski jumper Felix Hoffmann continued his series of success and luck in Oberstdorf – but the biggest challenge remains.
Anyone who knows Latin knows that his name is Felix “the lucky one” or “favored by luck”. And anyone who saw the opening competition of the Four Hills Tournament knows: Felix Hoffmann is currently living up to his name:
Two solid jumps, a delighted home crowd, a continuation of his fantastic season – a tailor-made start. “I’m super satisfied”he said after the competition. But Hoffmann didn’t yet know that the whole thing would take another happy turn.
Surprise after jumping
Completely surprisingly, the DSV eagle was asked to distribute the prizes. Because the second-placed Timi Zajc from Slovenia was disqualified, the previously fourth-placed Hoffmann moved up to the podium.
The whole thing caused a lot of confusion and surprise: Hoffmann himself couldn’t believe it and had to be brought to the award ceremony by press spokesman Ralph Eder shortly before, and even national ski jumping coach Stefan Horngacher only found out about his protégé’s late luck in the middle of the interview.
Hoffmann makes it out of the shadow of the DSV stars
But the strange last-minute podium fits in with the 28-year-old’s season so far. Hoffmann surprises and surprises. Until this season he was mainly found in the midfield, only played a supporting role in the DSV team, and his track record only included five individual victories in the Continental Cup – the second division of ski jumping. But just for the 2025/26 Olympic season, Hoffmann managed to emerge from the shadow of his teammates.
He already proved in October that the athlete from SWV Goldlauter is in impressive form: Hoffmann completely unexpectedly jumped to the German championship title in Oberhof – ahead of Philipp Raimund and Pius Paschke. At the opening competition in Lillehammer in November, he went one better and took his first podium place in the World Cup. He benefited from the change in material, but also in the summer “Really made a lot of progress athletically”he said later in an interview with Sportschau: “In the fall the wheels started to mesh together. Things got easier and easier.”
Hoffmann fills gaps
With effortless-looking jumps and his calm jumping style, the man from Thrüningen has now become one of the favorites to win the Four Hills Tournament victory, which from a German perspective has been long-awaited. It is not Andreas Wellinger or Karl Geiger, the team’s previous top jumpers, who are considered possible German contenders for victory – but Hoffmann.
Nevertheless, winning the tour seems unattainable at the moment. And the reason has a name. Domen Prevc continued his winning streak in the opening competition – and showed once again in Oberstdorf that he is currently jumping in a different class.
The lead is already almost ten meters. “And he is very strong on the upcoming jumps”said Hoffmann. He and Raimund want that “Domenator” really annoy them, they have to surpass themselves in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the qualification takes place on New Year’s Eve and the New Year’s competition the day after. By the way, no German has won this since Sven Hannawald on January 1, 2002.