Four Hills Tournament

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Stefan Kraft (center) triumphed ahead of Jan Hörl (l.) and Daniel Tschofenig (r.).(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Triple victory for Austria at the start of the Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf on Sunday: Stefan Kraft came out on top ahead of Jan Hörl and Daniel Tschofenig!

Kraft celebrated the 44th World Cup victory of his career, the first this season. It was the first ÖSV victory in the opening competition of the tour for eight years, when Kraft also triumphed on the Schattenberg ski jump.

Stefan Kraft(Bild: AP)

The 31-year-old was in top form at the right time. After four podium places in ten jumps, the overall World Cup winner made it to the top for the first time this winter. The Pongau native had already won the tour opener in 2014 and 2016, and also became World Champion in Oberstdorf in 2021. "A triple victory at the start of the tour is really cool," said Kraft on ORF. "It was really hara-kiri twice, but it worked out really well."

Stefan Kraft(Bild: AP)

Six jumpers in the race for tour victory
After jumps of 138 and 135.5 m, Kraft ended up 3.5 points ahead of Hörl. Tschofenig was 11.5 points behind. The 22-year-old from Carinthia, who was number one in the qualification and in the trial round with the best distance, moved up after seventh place with a 140.5 meter jump. The best non-Austrian was the German World Cup leader Pius Paschke, who in fourth place already lost 13.8 points to Kraft.

Jan Hörl(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Behind them, only Norway's Johann Andre Forfang and Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden remained within striking distance for the tour victory, 16.2 and 16.5 points behind respectively. Michael Hayböck dropped back to eighth place after finishing fifth in the final with just 129.5 meters. Maximilian Ortner finished eleventh, Markus Müller landed in 14th place.

Daniel Tschofenig(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Kraft already ahead of Hörl at half-time
Kraft was already ahead of Hörl after the first round. After a jump of 134.5 m in difficult conditions, Hörl was only 1.3 points behind his Salzburg compatriot thanks to the wind points. Tschofenig, who had claimed his second World Cup victory at the Tour rehearsal in Engelberg, did not show his best jump and tapped his helmet after 131 meters.

Stephan Embacher missed out on the final as the knockout loser against Kraft and 39th overall with 119 m. The five-time winner of the season Paschke was third at half-time after a 138-meter set, in the second round the Bavarian came to 133.5 meters. The next tour competition is scheduled for Wednesday with the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The qualification will already take place on Tuesday.