- At the opening jump of the 70th Four Hills Tournament, Gregor Deschwanden achieved the biggest Swiss exclamation mark with 10th place.
- Simon Ammann (13th) and Killian Peier (14th) also fly into the top 15 in Oberstdorf and round off a pleasing team result.
- Ryoyu Kobayashi (JAP) secured the day’s win with a jump of 141 meters.
From a Swiss point of view, the knockout duels had two surprises in store: For the first time in 16 years, three Swiss made it to the final in Oberstdorf and with a flight of 129 meters, Gregor Deschwanden was the best of the trio in eighth place. The 30-year-old defeated the world champion Stefan Kraft (AUT), who only qualified as a “lucky loser” for the second round.
Deschwanden with season best
In the decisive jump, Deschwanden could not quite match his first, but secured 10th place with a set of 122.5 meters and thus the first top 10 result of the season. “Today was a good day,” said a visibly relaxed Deschwanden immediately after his second jump.
Simon Ammann and Killian Peier showed an almost congruent competition. After the two were classified in 15th place with equal points in the half of the competition, they jumped exactly the same distance in the second round. With 125 meters and 13th place, Ammann fulfilled the Olympic standard, while team leader Peier (14th) placed himself directly behind the veteran in pouring rain.
Kobayashi jumping forward
With a leap of 141 meters, tour co-favorite Ryoyu Kobayashi maneuvered himself from 5th place on top of the podium in the finals. Behind him are three Norwegians: Halvor Egner Granerud, Robert Johansson and Marius Lindvik. Karl Geiger (GER), who won in Oberstdorf a year ago, was fifth.
For Kamil Stoch, last year’s winner of the tour, it was a disappointment. The Pole missed the second run. Severin Freund was also able to pack up his things after the first jump: The German was disqualified because of an irregular suit.
So it goes on
On New Year’s Day (January 1st) the next challenge awaits the athletes with jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. SRF will also broadcast live from the 2nd station of the Four Hills Tournament from 1:50 p.m.