Ahead of Hörl and Kraft

Jumping in Bischofshofen from 4.30 pm LIVE

Daniel Tschofenig

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

What a spectacle: In a highly dramatic decision, Daniel Tschofenig sailed to his first title in the Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen!

On Epiphany Day, the Carinthian beat his teammates with a victory ahead of Jan Hörl and Stefan Kraft. In the overall standings, the trio secured the third triple victory for Austria in the history of the tour after 1975 and 2012. The triumph also ended the ÖSV's drought since Kraft's victory in 2015.

Tschofenig secured his biggest success to date with his second victory of the day after the one in Garmisch. The 22-year-old achieved his fourth World Cup success after a competition with big differences in wind compensation and a long wait before the final jump by half-time leader Kraft. Tschofenig was only 1.4 points ahead of Hörl in the final standings, which were still tight after the final. Kraft, who like Hörl was very disappointed, was 4.1 points behind.

"Indescribable, I can't realize it, but it's definitely wonderful," said Tschofenig after the nerve-wracking final in front of 14,300 fans. He had actually seen no chance for himself before the last jump. "I'm just over the moon, unimaginable," said the beaming winner, who felt sorry for Kraft. "It certainly wasn't a good situation for Stefan."

Kraft unlucky with the wind
The man from Salzburg, who was leading after the first round, had to wait a long time before the decisive jump due to a wind interruption. "That's very, very bitter. It didn't want to come to me, the golden eagle. I tried everything, but waiting that long is no fun. It wasn't meant to be," said Kraft, who went into the final day as the narrow tour leader.

The Bischofshofen result:

(Bild: live.fis-ski.com)

Hörl probably lost the tour due to a wobbly landing in the final. "That really hurts. It's bitter, but we got one through. We win as a team, that suits us quite well. It hurts, but we're happy with Tschofe."

One of the officials celebrating with Tschofenig was his head coach Andreas Widhölzl. 25 years after his own triumph as a jumper, the Tyrolean is the first person to win the tour as an active athlete and coach. Widhölzl's team dominated the event like no other before, leaving the other teams in disbelief. In Oberstdorf as well as in Innsbruck and at the final, the red-white-red Eagles celebrated triple victories. Only in Garmisch did second-placed Swiss Gregor Deschwanden spoil the picture. Deschwanden ultimately finished fifth overall behind Johann Andre Forfang. The Norwegian had a huge gap to the ÖSV trio.

Widhölzl: "That's brutally good!"
Widhölzl emphasized the team performance after the dramatic final. "The momentum was there for Daniel, that's sport, it's understandable that two are disappointed. But it was another amazing day for Ski Jumping Austria," said Widhölzl. Overall, the tour was fantastic. "Three times a triple victory, that's brutally good. There's not much you can criticize."

The final result in the overall Tour standings:

International competition badly beaten
Major jumping nations such as Germany with the initial favorite Pius Paschke or the badly weakening Poles experienced more or less major debacles at the first highlight of the season. Immediately after the ÖSV's opening triumph in Oberstdorf, there were concerns from the Norwegian camp that the Austrians had an advantage in terms of suit material. However, there was no proof and no jumpers failed the strict tests. In the red-white-red entourage, the topic caused amusement and the odd sideways glance at possible enviers.

Incidentally, all other nations have only ever achieved one triple victory - and that was the Finns in 1954/55. Finland is also the nation that has now overtaken Austria as the only successful nation with its 17th overall victory.