The Four Hills Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was unable to present a surprise winner on New Year’s Day. On the Olympic hill, the Slovenian Domen Prevc once again showed no weakness and confidently won his second victory on the tour. Jan Hörl and Stephan Embacher made the Austrian team celebrate with second and third place.
The German ski eagles Felix Hoffmann and Phillipp Raimund also continued to perform at a high level and ended up in sixth and seventh place. “It just has a feeling of flight that I can only dream of“, said Raimund about the winner Prevc. The result definitely suits national coach Stefan Horngacher: “You can be happy with six and seven.”
Prevc counters attack from Hörl
The Austrian Jan Hörl tried to put pressure on the “Domenator” with his flight at 141 meters. However, he was unable to impress Prevc. The Slovenian sent the appropriate answer immediately. He simply flew two meters further and confidently took the lead. “It’s up to me to convert the pressure into adrenaline“, his credo.
In the final, Prevc left no doubt as to who had the hill and the competition under control on the first day of the year. While challenger Hörl landed after 131.5 meters, Prevc took victory with a jump to 141 meters and further extended his lead. The tour victory can hardly be taken away from him at half time.
In the overall ranking, the 26-year-old is now well ahead of Hörl (584.8) with 619.8 points and has the best chance of winning the Gold Eagle ten years after his brother Peter. The last time there was a bigger lead at halftime was 21 years ago.
DSV duo continues to shine
Felix Hoffmann also made a strong impression again, showing a broad grin and a jubilant fist after his set on 134 meters. With fifth place in the first round, it wasn’t just the 28-year-old who gave the DSV team hopes of a podium finish, as Philipp Raimund was able to get into position right behind him. “Not quite ideal, but the jumps are good“, said Stefan Horngacher in the ZDF interview. “I am very happy with my forerunners.”
The top German duo also delivered in the final. Raimund led the way with 135 meters, Hoffmann followed suit with 136 meters. It wasn’t enough for the podium. Sixth and seventh place at the end still mean two top results for the German jumpers.
Paschke strengthens self-consciousness
Not to forget Pius Paschke, who made it to the final in 23rd place. The 35-year-old ski jumping oldie didn’t really have a good time, but 21st place at the end of the day was a good result for last year’s sixth place overall. “Things are going better, the basis was quite good“, beamed the Upper Bavarian with relief. “It was solid, I’ll take it like that.“
No second round for Wellinger and Geiger
Andreas Wellinger, on the other hand, is moving forward in small steps. He still hasn’t regained the lightness of previous years, but in Garmisch-Partenkirchen the Olympic champion managed one of his currently better jumps. However, the 124.5 meters were not enough for the second round.
Teammate Karl Geiger, who met Pius Paschke in his duel, also missed the mark and only saw the final as a spectator. Like youngster Ben Bayer, the 32-year-old from Oberstdorf lost out. “Of course, this is not what I hoped for and what I was working towards“, said the 32-year-old. He now has to take small steps, and “keep an eye on the big picture.“
Zajc again disqualified
The Slovenian Timi Zajc was also disqualified from the second competition of the Four Hills Tournament and now receives a red card. This time the Slovenian’s suit deviated from the norm by four millimeters, which is why Zajc was disqualified before his first jump. “It can happen, but if it happens for the second time in a row, I have to say: it shouldn’t happen. That is of course very frustrating for the athlete.”said Karl Geiger about his opponent’s renewed violation.