New Year’s jumping: Austrian Tschofenig wins far ahead of Pius Paschke

When Austria’s Daniel Tschofenig flew to victory with great ease, Pius Paschke was no longer in demand as a ski jumper. After the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the 34-year-old Bavarian rushed from microphone to microphone and answered questions about the German dream of winning the Four Hills Tournament, which was probably shattered again.

Regarding the overall ranking, in which Paschke is over 25 points behind Tschofenig, he said: “I try not to look at it. That’s not important to me. What’s important to me is what kind of jump I make. Everything else isn’t relevant to me .” The veteran, who came to the tour with five daily victories, not only lost a lot of ground in the rankings at the start of 2025, but also had to hand over his yellow jersey of the World Cup leader to Tschofenig.

The German team around ninth-placed Paschke can probably tick off the golden eagle for the tour victory ahead of time. “It’s bitter. I’ve actually lost it here before. It’s not that easy. There’s just more pressure on the kettle. Of course you want to win the thing, but it’s not something that’s given to you,” said Karl Geiger in the ARD. Geiger made it to sixth place and was the best German in Garmisch.

Sven Hannawald and his historic quadruple triumph in the 2001/02 season will probably remain the last German overall victory in the traditional event for another year. “We missed the top spot a bit. The boys fought really well. It’s hard to be at the front. We’re with three people. Despite everything, I’m very satisfied,” said head coach Stefan Horngacher.

Despite an excellent second jump, Paschke (129 and 143.5 meters) lost further points to several Austrians. Tschofenig managed jumps of 141.5 and 143 meters and was undefeatable. Behind him, Gregor Deschwanden from Switzerland in second and Austria’s Michael Hayböck in third completed the podium. Hayböck set a hill record of 145 meters in the first round.

Many German fans were disillusioned. 22,500 spectators – including Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder – were ready for a hearty party in beautiful sunny weather. Classics such as “Greek Wine”, “YMCA” and “Über den Wolken” were played, and the fans sang along loudly. Only the German jumpers were unable to fuel the party any further.

Until the tour, the German team had dominated the World Cup. Paschke was the sensation of the winter up to and including Engelberg – but has gradually faded over the last two weeks and therefore at exactly the wrong time for a ski jumper.

“Unfortunately, Pius Paschke’s jump wasn’t good enough. We’re still there at the moment – but not as much as we want,” said Horngacher after the first round. Paschke managed the second jump much better, but that came too late. Andreas Wellinger was also a long way from the world leader in tenth place.

Paschke had already gone to bed at half past eleven on New Year’s Eve and expressed his anticipation of an atmospheric New Year’s jump. In the two remaining competitions in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, the only question will be which Austrian can raise the golden eagle for overall victory on January 6th. Daily winner Tschofenig massively improved his position on New Year’s Day.

The youngster took a few points from both Jan Hörl (fifth) and Oberstdorf winner Stefan Kraft (eighth) and is heading to Bergisel as the leader, where the third competition takes place on Saturday (1.30 p.m./ARD and Eurosport). For the Germans, the second part of the tour is mainly about damage control.