Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck, Bischofshofen – the Four Hills Tournament is one of the highlights of the winter sports season. Schedule, TV broadcast, favorites: Here you can find all the information about the classic ski jumping event.
Where do the jumps take place at the Four Hills Tournament instead of?
In contrast to other sports, those responsible at the associations have so far resisted all temptations to tamper with the format and venues of the Four Hills Tournament. The tour with four competitions has been taking place as a German-Austrian co-production since 1953.
Traditionally with the start in Oberstdorf, followed by the New Year’s jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The decision will then be made at the two final competitions in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen.
When do the competitions and qualification take place?
The tour begins on December 28th with the qualification for the opening competition in Oberstdorf and ends on Epiphany with the fourth competition in Bischofshofen.
The dates at a glance:
Saturday, December 28th, 4:30 p.m.: Qualification in Oberstdorf
Sunday, December 29th, 4:30 p.m.: 1st tour jumping in Oberstdorf
Tuesday, December 31st, 1:30 p.m.: Qualification in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Wednesday, January 1st, 2 p.m.: 2nd tour jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Friday, January 3rd, 1:30 p.m.: Qualification in Innsbruck
Saturday, January 4th, 1:30 p.m.: 3rd tour jumping in Innsbruck
Sunday, January 5th, 4:30 p.m.: Qualification in Bischofshofen
Monday, January 6th, 4:30 p.m.: 4th tour jumping in Bischofshofen.
Where is it running? Four Hills Tournament, online and on TV?
ARD, ZDF and Eurosport will broadcast the four competitions live on TV.
The qualification and the New Year’s competition from Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as the third competition from Innsbruck are both live streamed on the Sportschau’s online channels and in the Sportschau app.
At sportschau.de and in the Sportschau app, all four competitions can be followed in the live ticker, and there are also highlight summaries and reviews on each day of the competition.
Oberstdorf, Garmisch, Innsbruck, Bischofshofen – all data on the four tour ski jumps
Since its expansion in 2007, the Olympic ski jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen has been the largest of the four tour ski jumps, with a height of 140 meters and a total length of 395 meters. Most fans come to Oberstdorf every year, where the Schattenberg Arena holds more than 40,000 spectators. The data for the four ski jumps at a glance:
Oberstdorf, Schattenberg Arena
Total height: 140 meters
Inrun length: 105.5 meters
Hill record: Sigurd Pettersen/Norway, 143.5 meters.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Olympic ski jump
Total height: 149 meters
Inrun length: 103.5 meters
Hill record: Dawid Kubacki, 144.0 meters.
Innsbruck, Bergisel Stadium
Total height: 130 meters
Inrun length: 98 meters
Hill record: Michael Hayböck, 138.0 meters.
Bischofshofen, Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze
Total height: 132.5 meters
Inrun length: 125 meters
Hill record: Dawid Kubacki, 145.0 meters.
Ski jumping
The four ski jumps of the Four Hills Tournament
Which German ski jumpers are at the start?
Pius Paschke from Kiefersfelden, the high flyer of the season so far, is also leading the DSV Adler team at the Four Hills Tournament. The German Ski Association (DSV) also nominated Andreas Wellinger (Ruhpolding), Karl Geiger (Oberstdorf), Stephan Leyhe (Willingen) and Philipp Raimund (Oberstdorf). Adrian Tittel (Aue), who came third in the Junior World Championships, can also compete thanks to a special place.
Markus Eisenbichler (Siegsdorf) again did not make it into the tour squad, which was reduced from seven to six jumpers. The tour runner-up from 2018/19 will only take part in the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen as part of the “National Group”.
How is the tournament winner determined?
The Four Hills Tournament mode offers a few special features: The points from all eight competition rounds in the four competitions are added together and the jumper with the highest total number of points wins.
Like last year, the prize money for overall victory is 100,000 francs (108,000 euros). For a day’s victory there is the standard World Cup bonus of 10,000 francs (10,800 euros). A total of 400,000 francs (432,000 euros) will be paid out.
The starting order in the competition is unusual: unlike in the World Cup, the athletes do not select the best 30 jumpers for the second round in the reverse order of the overall World Cup. There are 25 knockout duels that are determined in the qualification: The best meets the 50th place after the qualification, the second place meets the number 49, and so on. The winners of the respective duels reach the final, as do the five losers with the best points.
Paschke against a handful of Austrians – who are the favorites on the tour?
After five victories in the ten World Cup competitions of the season, World Cup leader Pius Paschke must automatically be counted among the contenders for victory in the Four Hills Tournament. National coach Stefan Horngacher also nurtured hopes of Germany’s first victory on the tour since 2001: “We train for this all year round. We like to go into the tour as favorites.“
Most recently, Andreas Wellinger also made claims again with a strong fourth place at the dress rehearsal in Engelberg. Last year Wellinger won in Oberstdorf, but in the end had to admit defeat to the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi and came second overall.
In the race for overall victory on the tour, you will hardly be able to get past the Austrians. Of the 30 podium places so far this season, 17 have gone to Austria. The first contender for the first Austrian tour victory in ten years is Daniel Tschofenig. Jan Hörl is also coming to the tour with a lot of momentum after a victory in Engelberg. With the former tour champion Stefan Kraft, the Austria Eagles still have one of the best jumpers in history in their ranks.
For sports show expert Sven Hannawald, who celebrated the last German victory to date at the Four Hills Tournament, the three-time team ski flying world champion: Johann Andre Forfang should also be taken into account. Hannawald expects a close race in any case: “I’ve never had such excitement before a tour.”
