Four Hills Tournament: Granerud wins in Bischofshofen and is crowned overall winner

Status: 06.01.2023 18:26

Halvor Egner Granerud also wins the fourth competition of the Four Hills Tournament and thus takes overall victory for the first time. In the Norwegian’s victory on Friday (January 6th, 2023) in Bischofshofen, Philipp Raimund again became the best German.

Halvor Egner Granerud – who else? The outstanding ski jumper these days secured the title for the first time at the 71st edition of the Four Hills Tournament.

Granerud at its peak

After his victories in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Norwegian was also able to win the fourth competition in Bischofshofen. With distances of 139.5 and 143.5 meters, he relegated Anze Lanisek (140.5/139) from Slovenia and Dawid Kubacki (135.5/140) to the places.

At the end of the day, his superior lead in the overall standings was more than 30 points ahead of his closest pursuer, Kubacki from Poland. Lanisek completes the overall podium. The trio had already dominated the entire tour.

  • Appreciation – Four Hills Tournament
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For Granerud, after winning the overall World Cup 2020/21 and the team title at the Ski Flying World Championships 2020, it is the greatest success of his career. 16 years after Anders Jacobsen’s triumph, the winner of the Four Hills Tournament is back from Norway for the first time. “It’s incredible, an incredible day“Granerud summarized his emotions in the ZDF interview. “I was so focused and worked so hard for it. To be up here now just feels amazing. A childhood dream come true!

Raimund surprises again

From a German point of view, Philipp Raimund was once again able to convince. The youngster in the DSV team was the best German in 12th place with 136 and 135 meters. Constantin Schmid finished the jumping in 16th place, Andreas Wellinger was 20th.

Karl Geiger made it into the second round as a “lucky loser”. In the end, the man from Oberstdorf came in 23rd in this tour, which was so disappointing for him. Markus Eisenbichler, Pius Paschke and Stephan Leyhe had previously retired.

DSV-Adler far behind in the overall standings

Wellinger finished the tour in eleventh place overall (1043.8 points). Raimund followed in a strong 13th place (1020.6), Constantin Schmid also made it into the top 20 in 17th (948.3). For Geiger the tour ended with a disappointing 23rd place (819.8), Eisenbichler comes in ten places behind (563.8).

  • Ticker with videos: Granerud wins the Four Hills Tournament
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  • Result: The 4th Spingen in Bischofshofen
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Granerud safe for overall victory

23.3 points – almost 13 meters – was Granerud’s comfortable lead before the final competition on the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze. Kubacki, who had become a father for the second time shortly before the tour finale, had to hope for a blunder by the leader and at the same time deliver at least one extraordinary jump himself.

He wasn’t quite able to do that in the first round. 135.5 meters was solid, but Granerud countered with a leap to 139.5 meters and further extended his lead in the overall classification. With a final jump to a whopping 143.5 meters, he then removed the last doubts.

Raimund “brutally satisfied”

Youngster Raimund once again showed a convincing performance. The 22-year-old clenched his fists after a magnificent jump of 136 meters in the first round. Even after the second jump, the cheering was huge. With 135 meters, Raimund, who held up the German flag on this tour, set another exclamation point.

Philipp Raimund in Bischofshofen

“Brutally satisfied” was Raimund afterwards. I never thought to be so strong on my first tour. “I’ve made an incredible development and I’m very proud of myself. If someone had told me that before the tour, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

Violinist: “The oven is off”

In the co-duel with Marius Lindvik, Geiger initially had to drill a tough board. Even if the Norwegian jumped further, Geiger was still able to move into the second round with 131.5 meters as a “lucky loser”. There the 29-year-old had to let some competitors pass after 126 meters.

DSV jumper Karl Geiger is sober after the Virschanzen Tournament and draws a conclusion.

I’m looking forward to the five days at home‘ Geiger said. “The oven is off. There were turbulent days with a lot of unpleasant things. Now let’s breathe and then carry on.”

Wellinger solid – Eisenbichler unlucky

Wellinger managed the same distance as his teammate Geiger in the first round. In qualifying the day before, the Olympic champion from Pyeongchang was still suffering from a gastrointestinal infection. With 130 meters he fell back a bit in the second round.

Eisenbichler, on the other hand, missed the final round. His jump on 130 meters was solid, but opponent Daniel Tschofenig from Austria pulled the tooth with the Siegsdorfer with a cleanly placed 132.5 meters. “First of all, I’m satisfied that I wasn’t too late when I jumped off“, according to Eisenbichler, for whom it “Step by step in the right direction” goes. “If I keep going like this, I’ll get in better and better shape.

High-flyers in one season, just mediocre the next: This has happened to some top athletes – because ski jumping is complex.

Horngacher: “Top jumpers have too little self-confidence”

The German jumpers had nothing to do with the fight for the golden eagle. After a promising start, Geiger and Co. lost every chance in Innsbruck. Geiger even dropped out in the qualification there and threw away all hopes of a good place in the overall standings.

DSV jumper Pius Paschke draws a negative conclusion of this year’s Four Hills Tournament.

National coach Stefan Horngacher not only paid tribute to the overall winner, Granerud (“The last jump was at the limit”), but was also harsh on the performance of his protégés. “Of course we’re disappointed, we started well, but then we were able to keep up with more.”

It was a “difficult tour” for his team. “But our top jumpers still lack self-confidence,” said Horngacher. “But we sorted ourselves out and we’re on the right track. We have to stick with it and keep working calmly.”

Philipp Raimund, Stephan Leyhe and Pius Paschke talk about the factors that play a role in ski jumping and why performance fluctuations can suddenly occur.

DSV jumper Karl Geiger talks about how difficult it is to get out of a slump.

After the disappointment in Innsbruck, DSV jumper Karl Geiger is certainly qualified thanks to a solid jump in Bischofshofen.

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