Third overall victory for the Japanese
Kobayashi denies Wellinger the Four Hills Tournament coronation
January 6, 2024, 6:19 p.m
The winner of the 2023/24 Four Hills Tournament is Ryoyu Kobayashi. The Japanese ski jumper shines at the final in Bischofshofen and takes his third tour victory. As second overall, Andreas Wellinger missed the chance to become the first German in 21 years to win the prestigious tour.
Andreas Wellinger took a deep breath, bowed with a smile to his conqueror Ryoyu Kobayashi in the wild swirl of flakes and let his teammates celebrate him for a great Four Hills Tournament: In the showdown in Bischofshofen, the German ski jumpers’ dream of overall victory was once again shattered after they took second place but the “resurrected” Wellinger also feels like a champion.
“I can basically be proud of this tour, even if I couldn’t quite do it on the last two hills, where I should have been able to do better,” said Wellinger after an emotional rollercoaster ride from the thrilling opening victory in Oberstdorf to the final showdown in Bischofshofen: “You have to acknowledge without envy that Ryoyu is an incredibly good ski jumper and deserved to win.”
Untouchable: Ryoyu Kobayashi.
(Photo: AP)
The 28-year-old Olympic champion finally landed in fifth place on the day in the snow in front of 14,300 spectators after good jumps of 132.0 and 137.0 meters (267.9 points). Kobayashi (287.6/137.0+139.0) didn’t show the slightest weakness, came second behind the Austrian Stefan Kraft (288.9) and was ultimately 24.5 points (around 14 meters) ahead of Wellinger in the tournament rankings – before Bischofshofen it was only 4.8 points. Kraft finished eight points behind Wellinger in third place overall. “We were cool and have to accept that someone was better,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher.
Kobayashi forgets his skis and still wins
Kobayashi was in a class of his own in the overall view of all four jumps – even though he was the first jumper since Janne Ahonen in 1998/99 to secure the tournament triumph without a day’s victory: “Roy” came second in all competitions. “I’m very happy, I’ve implemented everything I set out to do,” said the 27-year-old.
Things got hectic in the first round: Kobayashi had seriously forgotten his skis in the cabin and had to rush back – no problem, he jogged through the jumpers’ camp with a smile, no sign of pressure. Kobayashi ice-coldly clinched his third overall victory after 2018/19 and 2021/22, moving into an elite club: He is only the sixth jumper to have won the tour at least three times. Finn Janne Ahonen’s record of five wins is absolutely within reach for the Japanese.
Pius Paschke finished in eighth place and also achieved a conciliatory end to an overall disappointing tour. Philipp Raimund from Oberstdorf finished solidly in 14th place and Karl Geiger in 15th place – but Wellinger was the only German in the top 10 in the final rankings.
When will “Hanni” get a successor?
Wellinger himself became tour runner-up for the second time. He had already been second in 2017/18, a little later he experienced the high point of his career with the individual Olympic victory in Pyeongchang, and the following year the low point of his career with the torn cruciate ligament. A difficult phase followed in which Wellinger temporarily competed in the third-class FIS Cup. It wasn’t until the winter of 2022/23 that he finally broke free from the long-term slump and has been exploiting his proven huge talent ever since.
Nevertheless, the wait for a German tour victory goes into its 23rd year. No other top nation has experienced such a lull; since Hannawald’s triumph, overall victory has gone to Austria seven times (most recently in 2015), four times to Poland (2021) and Finland (2008), three times to Japan (2024), twice to Norway (2023) and once each to Slovenia (2016) and even the Czech Republic (2006). “The hope is alive that I will finally get a successor,” said Hannawald. This year “Hanni” turns 50 – that also shows how long Germany’s dry spell has already lasted.