Four Hills Tournament

Home final will be the biggest thriller of all time

Hörl, Kraft and Tschofenig will decide the Tour victory among themselves.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Stefan Kraft celebrated his first victory on the Bergisel ahead of teammates Jan Hörl and Daniel Tschofenig. The ÖSV trio is only separated by 1.3 points ahead of the grand final on Monday in Bischofshofen.

"You can't give the fans, our team and the ski association a bigger present," said head coach Andreas Widhölzl, overwhelmed. After the successes in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Stefan Kraft, Jan Hörl and Daniel Tschofenig ensured the first triple victory in Innsbruck in 50 years! The red-white-red fans were also over the moon after the ÖSV eagles' flight show on the Bergisel ski jump. Almost all of them stayed in the witches' cauldron to watch the award ceremony half an hour after the end of the competition.

"My wife brought me an egg liqueur. I think I'll buy a round of that on the bus," grinned Stefan Kraft. The high-flyer, who has already won all the major Adler trophies, fulfilled a long-cherished wish with his first victory on the Bergisel: "I'm very close to tears of happiness. This success is definitely one of my top 3".

Despite all the euphoria, Kraft didn't go into party mode, the man from Salzburg took over the tour lead with his 45th World Cup victory: "Now I'm having a lasagne, I ordered it especially for myself. But we'll save the celebrations for Bischofshofen."

Biggest thriller of all time
The tour finale promises to be the biggest thriller in the history of the ski jump spectacle. Kraft, Jan Hörl (2nd) and Daniel Tschofenig (3rd) are only separated by 1.3 points ahead of the competition on January 6th. On the huge Paul Ausserleitner bakken, that's less than one meter.

However, the explosive starting position should not lead to internal team squabbles. "That's no good. We're all nervous at the top, so we'll loosen up together. We'll have a banter, the best should come out on top in the end," Kraft made clear. Half-time winner Hörl, in second place, was particularly pleased with his first 20 in the style grades: "That's nice. It shows that I've also worked very well over the summer."

With a gap of just 0.6 points to Kraft, Hörl promised a full attack on the leader: "That's not even nothing. We'll see what comes out in the end. But hopefully an Austrian will take the eagle."

ÖSV young star Tschofenig extended his World Cup lead with his first podium finish in Innsbruck, and the Carinthian will go into the final in third place in the tour rankings: "Our gap is abnormal. Now it's getting really, really exciting."