Ski jumping hopeful Andreas Wellinger is also relying on home advantage in the competition for overall victory at the Four Hills Tournament.
“Bischofshofen is actually the ski jump where I do the most jumps. I would say as often as in Oberstdorf. As a student, I often went there from Berchtesgaden to train,” said the 28-year-old about the facility on which today the qualification for the fourth tournament competition takes place. The competition increases on Saturday.
“Now every now and then when we’re training at home. We did the last session there – I think – in October,” Wellinger described.
Four Hills Tournament: Kobayashi and Wellinger go head-to-head
The Olympic champion awaits a duel on the large Paul-Außerleitner ski jump with the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi, who is currently in the lead with a lead of 4.8 points. It would be Kobayashi’s third tour title. Wellinger, on the other hand, would be the first German since Sven Hannawald in 2002 to win the overall ranking of the traditional event.
On the rest day on Thursday, the German ski jumping team skipped media and sponsor appointments. Instead, regeneration and the journey from Tyrol to Pongau to the tour final location were on the program. Wellinger started with a victory in Oberstdorf, followed by third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and fifth place in Innsbruck. Kobayashi has finished second in all three competitions so far.