Ski jumping in Bischofshofen: Three Austrians, one golden eagle: Who will win the tour?

For Austria’s ski jumpers, a 3,653-day lull is likely to end today. It’s been so long since the former super eagles won the Golden Eagle at the Four Hills Tournament. Exactly ten years after Stefan Kraft’s triumph, the only question that arises at the final competition (4.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) is: Which of the three Austrians can crown themselves on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen?

“The list of results doesn’t lie. We are by far the best nation at the moment,” said former tour winner Gregor Schlierenzauer on ORF, referring to the tour so far. Kraft and Daniel Tschofenig won all three. Jan Hörl came second twice and also occupies this place in the overall ranking. The trio is only separated by 1.3 points – that’s the equivalent of just over 70 centimeters.

For Tschofenig (22) it would be by far the greatest success of his career to date. The youngster made his World Cup debut four years ago and has since worked his way into the Austrian team. This winter he has already won three individual competitions and is leading the overall World Cup. His greatest success to date is bronze in the team at the Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica. Tschofenig is in third place before the tour final, 1.3 points behind Kraft.

Kraft (31) has won every major ski jumping title at least once. Since his first and so far only triumph on the tour, three World Cup titles, Olympic gold in the team and, in January 2024, the missing title at the Ski Flying World Championships followed. Along with Poland’s Kamil Stoch and Ryoyu Kobayashi from Japan, Kraft has been the face of the sport for the past ten years. After his victories at Bergisel and Oberstdorf, he starts as the leader with the blue jersey.

Hörl (26) has so far won his medals at major events as a team. His greatest successes were team gold at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and victory at the Bergisel in Innsbruck in 2024. In other words, Hörl is only a little more than 30 centimeters behind Kraft. The top athlete from SC Bischofshofen can hope for the golden eagle at his home game. This is also possible if he doesn’t win any of the four competitions.

Gregor Deschwanden (Switzerland) and the Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang should have a maximum chance of winning the day. Austria’s trio is already too far ahead in the overall standings.