At the age of 28, the experienced ski jumper, Felix Hoffmann from Thuringia, has made an exclamation mark. He flew into the top 10 for the first time. The victory went to Austria.
Felix Hoffmann achieved the best World Cup result of his career. The 28-year-old finished tenth at the ski jumping season opener on Saturday (November 22nd, 2025) in Lillehammer. After the first round, the Thuringian was in third place with a distance of 134.5 meters. He was unable to confirm his podium hopes in the final. At 120.5 meters with a tailwind, Hoffmann fell far behind – but was still happy about the best result of his career.
Triple success for Austria
The Austrian Daniel Tschofenig secured victory at the start of the season with distances of 133.0 and 129.0 meters. Jan Hörl (136.0/126.0 meters) and Stefan Kraft (138.0/120.0 meters) ensured an Austrian triple success.
Raimund Achter
The best German was Summer Grand Prix winner Philipp Raimund in sixth place. With distances of 139.5 and 127.5 meters, the German placed well in the top 10. Despite a tailwind in the second round, Raimund improved by two places from eighth place in the first round. Only Hoffmann and Oberstdorfer even made it to the final of the best 30.
Geiger misses the second round in 40th place.
The afternoon was frustrating for Karl Geiger, Andreas Wellinger and Pius Paschke. Geiger missed the second round in Lillehammer with 120.5 meters and 40th place.
Wellinger and Paschke fail in the qualification
The former model jumpers Pius Paschke and Wellinger failed in the qualification. Paschke only came in 51st with 112.5 meters and complained after his jump: “That was just shit”. Last season Paschke won in Lillehammer.
With 110 meters only qualifying 56. became Wellinger. “Ski jumping doesn’t forgive mistakes at the moment. And I’m making too many of them at the moment”Wellinger explains his dip in form. “There is no system closure, there is no lightness.”