For the ski jumping stars, the days around the turn of the year are once again dominated by the Four Hills Tournament. Look before the start sport.de-Expert and commentator Luis Holuch lists the favorites for us and presents his personal power ranking.
The World Cup season so far has been dominated by the duel between the German and Austrian ski jumpers. Is overall World Cup leader Pius Paschke the top favorite to win the tour? And what’s in it for the Austrians, who are, above all, the measure of all things as a team? Who else has what it takes to make the big leap?
sport.de-Expert and commentator Luis Holuch does the big check for us and presents his favorites in the power ranking:
6th place: Anže Lanišek (SLO)
Žaba the frog is called Anže Lanišek in his homeland. Whether this nickname is charming is of course a matter of opinion, but there are certain parallels between Lanišek the human being and the frog animal: the 28-year-old also jumps well in all weathers and lands elegantly and gently. He has proven that he has what it takes to be a tour winner with third and fifth places in the last two editions. What’s more, except for Oberstdorf, he has already been on the podium on every hill and won the New Year’s competition in 2024. Because he is the only constant in a struggling Slovenian team, he flies somewhat under the radar. But that doesn’t have to be a disadvantage for him in the days when ski jumping is more in focus than it is otherwise all year round.
5th place: Gregor Deschwanden (SUI)
Gregor Deschwanden is a name that would certainly not have appeared in this power ranking at the beginning of the season. Although the Swiss was in the top 20 in the world for the first time last winter, he only achieved his first two World Cup podiums. There are currently three this winter, the first of which on December 7th in Wisła was the first podium finish for a non-German or Austrian. Deschwanden had to be 33 years old before he perfected his jump. His big advantage is the surprisingly manageable level of interest in himself to date. And that despite the fact that he has long since exceeded everything anyone ever expected of him. Not bad conditions for the model jumper of a nation that is still waiting for a tour winner.
4th place: Stefan Kraft (AUT)
That Stefan Kraft not being the Austrian with the strongest form has hardly ever happened in recent years. And although the 31-year-old has not yet won any competitions this season, he is definitely one to keep in mind. His results are consistently good, and he has been able to improve technically in the last few weeks. In the current situation, in which there is no clear favorite, consistency can also lead to tour triumph. Similar to Ryoyu Kobayashi in the previous edition, Kraft could win the title even without winning the day. Of the current top favorites, he is the only one who has already won the Golden Eagle.
3rd place: Pius Paschke (GER)
Whoever goes to the Four Hills Tournament as the overall World Cup leader is automatically a top favorite – Pius Paschke isn’t fighting against that either. If this power ranking had been done before the dress rehearsal in Engelberg, the Kiefersfelden native would have ended up in undisputed first place. But it was precisely this last weekend, in which the 34-year-old struggled to find his starting position and achieved his worst results of the season with 10th and 18th place, that raised doubts. However, it is unlikely that he will disappear in midfield after the furious start to the season; he is too mentally stable for that. The fact that he is going on tour as the German fans’ greatest hope is the biggest unknown in his situation. It will be interesting to see what that does to him.
2nd place: Jan Hörl (AUT)
“Bischofshofen boy wins jumper tournament” – that’s how the headline would read if Jan Hörl were at the top at the end. And in the long history of the tour, the chances of an athlete from the final location being able to raise the golden eagle have never been as good as they are now. His jump is quite inconspicuous, but extremely efficient and transferable to all hills, as was shown over the course of the season: the 26-year-old won two competitions this season and came second three times. He has gradually approached the tour podium in recent years: in the last three editions he came eighth, ninth and fourth, and also achieved his first day’s victory in the last tour in Innsbruck.
1st place: Daniel Tschofenig (AUT)
At 22 years old, Daniel Tschofenig is by far the youngest contender for the tour title, but he is brimming with self-confidence. After he was blown away by the wind in 15th place in the second competition in Titisee-Neustadt, he kept his perspective in the snowstorm in Engelberg and came second and first. He had already occupied these same positions in Lillehammer and Wisła and came third twice in Lillehammer and Titisee-Neustadt. In the race of top favorites, the Carinthian is in the lead – and that’s mainly due to the aforementioned successful dress rehearsal.