With his victory at the Four Hills Tournament, Halvor Egner Granerud is at the peak of his career. It is the culmination of an extraordinary success story.
Many pictures will be remembered from the Four Hills Tournament 2022/23. But one thing in particular: after winning the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Halvor Egner Granerud sat in the snow in a yoga pose and celebrated his success. He has “found a way to deal with the pressure”, he said meaningfully afterwards.
From kindergarten teacher to Four Hills Tournament winner
A few years ago it was far from foreseeable that Granerud would be at the (temporary) peak of his creative power in January 2023. In 2020, the 26-year-old was still working as a kindergarten teacher in his hometown of Trondheim to earn some extra money. This was preceded by a botched season in which a 23rd place finish was his best World Cup finish. But Granerud drew his conclusions from the sporting misery. A spectacular ascent followed in winter 2020/21. With five World Cup victories in a row under his belt, he traveled to the Four Hills Tournament as a big favorite.
But there his nerves failed him. A bad jump in Innsbruck robbed the previous leader of all chances of overall victory. Even though Granerud then easily won the overall World Cup, this bitter defeat left its mark. “What happened there was very instructive“, explained his Austrian coach Alexander Stöckl.
Granerud’s nerves hold in Innsbruck
History threatened to repeat itself this year. After his two victories at the start of the tour in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Granerud once again traveled to Innsbruck as the big favorite. However, when he revealed weaknesses on his first jump on the Bergisel and Dawid Kubacki was able to halve the gap in the overall standings, the situation came to a head again.
I’m amazed every day how calmly he gets through it all.
But Granerud had learned from his mistakes. Strong in nerves, he made a great second jump of 133 meters in the snow and maintained his comfortable lead in front of Kubacki – even though he won in Innsbruck. “I’m amazed every day how calmly he gets through it all“, praised Stöckl: “Two years ago it was different, he was more stressed and upset about all sorts of things outside of ski jumping.“
Coronation in Bischofshofen
At the time, Granerud might have been upset about missing the Tournament Grand Slam with victories at all four stations. After all, he would only have been the fourth ski jumper to have accomplished this feat.
But today’s Granerud brushed aside all negative thoughts and finally took the crown in the final competition in Bischofshofen. Needless to say, the gifted ski jumper skied the longest distance in the snow in both rounds and thus eliminated the last doubts about the tournament victory.
Halvor Egner Granerud celebrates the day and overall victory after his jump
Raimund: “It just looks beautiful”
For Stöckl, Granerud’s success is nothing less than the reward for hard work. His protégé is “a 24-hour athlete who does everything for the sport“, said the Austrian coach. “Showing such a performance in the most important competitions of the year is gigantic and extremely nerve-wracking.”
His opponents had to see that too. “It’s amazing how it flies. He’s doing something right. That just looks beautiful“said Philipp Raimund, the only ray of hope in a completely disappointing German team.
Granerud wins with a record number of points
And the winner himself? He could hardly believe his luck. “It just feels fantastic to be standing up here now“said Granerud, who brought the golden eagle back to Norway for the first time after Anders Jacobsen’s triumph 16 years ago. “Of course, as an athlete, you feel that pressure. To have done that now feels fantastic.“
Granerud’s superiority on this tour will be remembered. No winner before him had scored 1191.2 points from four competitions. With the Nordic World Ski Championships in February and March in Planica, the next highlight is just around the corner. And who knows: Maybe Granerud will celebrate success in a yoga pose again. In the last few days he has impressively demonstrated that he can be reckoned with even after a setback.