Four Hills Tournament

The Four Hills Tournament (German: Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (German: Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1953. With few exceptions, it has consisted of the ski jumping events held at Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, in this order.

Four Hills Tournament
Vierschanzentournee
logotype
Statusactive
Genresporting event
Date(s)29/30 December – 6 January
Frequencyannual
CountryAustria
Germany
Inaugurated1953 (1953)
Most recent2022–23
Previous event2021–22
Organised byFIS
Websitevierschanzentournee.com

The Four Hills Tournament champion is the one who gets the most points over the four events. Unlike the World Cup ranking, however, the actual points scored during the competitions are the ones that are used to determine the winner. In 2005–06, Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda shared the overall victory after finishing with exactly the same points total after the four competitions. In 2001–02, the anniversary 50th edition, Sven Hannawald was the first to achieve the grand slam of ski jumping, winning all four events in the same edition. In 2017–18 season Kamil Stoch became the second ski jumper in history to obtain this achievement, and just a year later, in the 2018–19 edition, Ryōyū Kobayashi became the third.

The four individual events themselves are part of the World Cup and award points toward the world cup in exactly the same manner as all other world cup events.

Tournament hills

Date Image Place Hill name K-Point Hill size Hill record
29 or 30 December Germany Oberstdorf, Germany Schattenbergschanze K-120 HS 137 143.5 m (2003)
Norway Sigurd Pettersen
1 January Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Große Olympiaschanze K-125 HS 142 144.0 m (2021)
Poland Dawid Kubacki
3 or 4 January Austria Innsbruck, Austria Bergiselschanze K-120 HS 128 138.0 m (2015)
Austria Michael Hayböck[1]
6 January Austria Bischofshofen, Austria Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K-125 HS 142 145.0 m (2019)
Poland Dawid Kubacki

Traditionally, the order of the tournament competitions has been: Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck, Bischofshofen with the following exceptions:

  • 1953: Garmisch-Partenkirchen was the first, and Oberstdorf the second event.
  • 1956–57, 1961–62, 1962–63: Innsbruck was the second event, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen third.
  • 1971–72: Innsbruck was first, and Oberstdorf third.
  • 2007–08, 2021–22: The Innsbruck event was cancelled due to bad weather, and replaced with an additional competition at Bischofshofen.

Knock-out system

One of the tournament's peculiarities is its qualifying system. Unlike other ski jumping events where the best 30 competitors in the first round qualify for the second round, all Four Hills events follow a knock-out system first introduced for the 1996–97 season.

The 50 competitors are divided into 25 pairs. All 25 winners of these duels plus the five best losers qualify for the second round. It is theoretically possible that a competitor who finishes the first round 12th will not qualify for the second round (if he loses his internal duel, five lucky losers and winners of their duels have better results) while the one with the 49th first series result may still qualify (if his "rival" has the worst result). On the other hand, jumpers are less likely to be disadvantaged by a possible significant change in weather conditions between the start and end of the first series. A change in the direction and speed of the wind can make it impossible for the best jumpers to produce a good result. In the event of significantly worse conditions during the second half of the first series, the possibility exists that most of the best jumpers would be eliminated by bad luck alone. Directly pairing rivals reduces the impact of these conditions. In this competition format the qualifying series are valued as well, since jumpers with a better qualification result will have the opportunity to compete against jumpers with worse result. Therefore, it is not enough for a jumper to be among 50 best jumpers in qualifications (with whatever result), but it is better for him to achieve a result as good as possible.

The first jumper in the competition is the one who qualified 26th, followed by his pair who qualified 25th. The next pair has 27th and 24th from the qualification, one after that 28th and 23rd etc. The last pair has last qualified jumper against qualification winner.

If qualification is postponed until the day of competition, the knock-out system is not used, and competition follows regular world cup rules. Because of that in the 2007/08 tournament, the knock-out system was used only in Oberstdorf.

List of winners

Four Hills Trophy (Photo)
Four Hills Trophy (Sketch)
* Won all four events in the same season
Won three events in the same season
YearOberstdorfGarmisch-
Partenkirchen
InnsbruckBischofshofenOverall victory
1953 Norway Erling Kroken Norway Asgeir Dølplads[lower-alpha 1] Austria Sepp Bradl Norway Halvor Næs Austria Sepp Bradl
1953–54 Norway Olav Bjørnstad Norway Olav Bjørnstad Norway Olav Bjørnstad Austria Sepp Bradl Norway Olav Bjørnstad
1954–55 Finland Aulis Kallakorpi Finland Aulis Kallakorpi Norway Torbjørn Ruste Norway Torbjørn Ruste Finland Hemmo Silvennoinen
1955–56 Finland Aulis Kallakorpi
Finland Eino Kirjonen
Finland Hemmo Silvennoinen Soviet Union Koba Zakadze Soviet Union Yuri Skvortsov Soviet Union Nikolay Kamenskiy
1956–57 Finland Pentti Uotinen Soviet Union Nikolay Kamenskiy[lower-alpha 2] Soviet Union Nikolai Schamov[lower-alpha 2] Finland Eino Kirjonen Finland Pentti Uotinen
1957–58 Soviet Union Nikolay Kamenskiy Austria Willi Egger East Germany Helmut Recknagel East Germany Helmut Recknagel East Germany Helmut Recknagel
1958–59 East Germany Helmut Recknagel East Germany Helmut Recknagel East Germany Helmut Recknagel Austria Walter Habersatter East Germany Helmut Recknagel
1959–60 West Germany Max Bolkart West Germany Max Bolkart West Germany Max Bolkart Austria Alwin Plank West Germany Max Bolkart
1960–61 Finland Juhani Kärkinen Soviet Union Koba Zakadze Finland Kalevi Kärkinen East Germany Helmut Recknagel East Germany Helmut Recknagel (3)
1961–62 Finland Eino Kirjonen West Germany Georg Thoma[lower-alpha 2] Austria Willi Egger[lower-alpha 2] Austria Willi Egger Finland Eino Kirjonen
1962–63 Norway Toralf Engan Norway Toralf Engan[lower-alpha 2] Norway Toralf Engan[lower-alpha 2] Norway Torbjørn Yggeseth Norway Toralf Engan
1963–64 Norway Torbjørn Yggeseth Finland Veikko Kankkonen Finland Veikko Kankkonen Austria Baldur Preiml Finland Veikko Kankkonen
1964–65 Norway Torgeir Brandtzæg Finland Erkki Pukka Norway Torgeir Brandtzæg Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Torgeir Brandtzæg
1965–66 Finland Veikko Kankkonen Finland Paavo Lukkariniemi East Germany Dieter Neuendorf Finland Veikko Kankkonen Finland Veikko Kankkonen (2)
1966–67 East Germany Dieter Neuendorf Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Bjørn Wirkola
1967–68 East Germany Dieter Neuendorf Norway Bjørn Wirkola Soviet Union Gariy Napalkov Czechoslovakia Jiří Raška Norway Bjørn Wirkola
1968–69 Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Bjørn Wirkola Czechoslovakia Jiří Raška Norway Bjørn Wirkola (3)
1969–70 Soviet Union Gariy Napalkov Czechoslovakia Jiří Raška Norway Bjørn Wirkola Czechoslovakia Jiří Raška East Germany Horst Queck
1970–71 Norway Ingolf Mork Norway Ingolf Mork Czechoslovakia Zbyněk Hubač Norway Ingolf Mork Czechoslovakia Jiří Raška
1971–72 Japan Yukio Kasaya[lower-alpha 3] Japan Yukio Kasaya Japan Yukio Kasaya[lower-alpha 3] Norway Bjørn Wirkola Norway Ingolf Mork
1972–73 East Germany Rainer Schmidt East Germany Rainer Schmidt Soviet Union Sergei Botschkov Czechoslovakia Rudolf Höhnl East Germany Rainer Schmidt
1973–74 East Germany Hans-Georg Aschenbach  Switzerland  Walter Steiner East Germany Hans-Georg Aschenbach East Germany Bernd Eckstein East Germany Hans-Georg Aschenbach
1974–75 Austria Willi Pürstl Austria Karl Schnabl Austria Karl Schnabl Austria Karl Schnabl Austria Willi Pürstl
1975–76 Austria Toni Innauer Austria Toni Innauer East Germany Jochen Danneberg Austria Toni Innauer East Germany Jochen Danneberg
1976–77 Austria Toni Innauer East Germany Jochen Danneberg East Germany Henry Glaß  Switzerland  Walter Steiner East Germany Jochen Danneberg (2)
1977–78 East Germany Matthias Buse East Germany Jochen Danneberg Norway Per Bergerud Finland Kari Ylianttila Finland Kari Ylianttila
1978–79 Soviet Union Yury Ivanov Czechoslovakia Josef Samek Finland Pentti Kokkonen Finland Pentti Kokkonen Finland Pentti Kokkonen
1979–80 East Germany Jochen Danneberg Austria Hubert Neuper Austria Hubert Neuper East Germany Martin Weber Austria Hubert Neuper
1980–81 Austria Hubert Neuper Canada Horst Bulau Finland Jari Puikkonen Austria Armin Kogler Austria Hubert Neuper (2)
1981–82 Finland Matti Nykänen Norway Roger Ruud Norway Per Bergerud
East Germany Manfred Deckert
Austria Hubert Neuper East Germany Manfred Deckert
1982–83 Canada Horst Bulau Austria Armin Kogler Finland Matti Nykänen East Germany Jens Weißflog Finland Matti Nykänen
1983–84 East Germany Klaus Ostwald East Germany Jens Weißflog East Germany Jens Weißflog East Germany Jens Weißflog East Germany Jens Weißflog
1984–85 Austria Ernst Vettori East Germany Jens Weißflog Finland Matti Nykänen Norway Hroar Stjernen East Germany Jens Weißflog
1985–86 Finland Pekka Suorsa Czechoslovakia Pavel Ploc Finland Jari Puikkonen Austria Ernst Vettori Austria Ernst Vettori
1986–87 Norway Vegard Opaas West Germany Andreas Bauer Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Primož Ulaga Finland Tuomo Ylipulli Austria Ernst Vettori (2)
1987–88 Czechoslovakia Pavel Ploc Finland Matti Nykänen Finland Matti Nykänen Finland Matti Nykänen Finland Matti Nykänen (2)
1988–89 West Germany Dieter Thoma Finland Matti Nykänen Sweden Jan Boklöv United States Mike Holland Finland Risto Laakkonen
1989–90 West Germany Dieter Thoma East Germany Jens Weißflog Finland Ari-Pekka Nikkola Czechoslovakia František Jež West Germany Dieter Thoma
1990–91 Germany Jens Weißflog Austria Andreas Felder
Germany Jens Weißflog
Finland Ari-Pekka Nikkola Austria Andreas Felder Germany Jens Weißflog
1991–92 Finland Toni Nieminen Austria Andreas Felder Finland Toni Nieminen Finland Toni Nieminen Finland Toni Nieminen
1992–93 Germany Christof Duffner Japan Noriaki Kasai Austria Andreas Goldberger Austria Andreas Goldberger Austria Andreas Goldberger
1993–94 Germany Jens Weißflog Norway Espen Bredesen Austria Andreas Goldberger Norway Espen Bredesen Norway Espen Bredesen
1994–95 Austria Reinhard Schwarzenberger Finland Janne Ahonen Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki Austria Andreas Goldberger Austria Andreas Goldberger (2)
1995–96 Finland Mika Laitinen Austria Reinhard Schwarzenberger Austria Andreas Goldberger Germany Jens Weißflog Germany Jens Weißflog (4)
1996–97 Germany Dieter Thoma Slovenia Primož Peterka Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki Germany Dieter Thoma Slovenia Primož Peterka
1997–98 Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki Germany Sven Hannawald Japan Kazuyoshi Funaki
1998–99 Germany Martin Schmitt Germany Martin Schmitt Japan Noriaki Kasai Austria Andreas Widhölzl Finland Janne Ahonen
1999–00 Germany Martin Schmitt Austria Andreas Widhölzl Austria Andreas Widhölzl Austria Andreas Widhölzl Austria Andreas Widhölzl
2000–01 Germany Martin Schmitt Japan Noriaki Kasai Poland Adam Małysz Poland Adam Małysz Poland Adam Małysz
2001–02 Germany Sven Hannawald Germany Sven Hannawald Germany Sven Hannawald Germany Sven Hannawald Germany Sven Hannawald *
2002–03 Germany Sven Hannawald Slovenia Primož Peterka Finland Janne Ahonen Norway Bjørn Einar Romøren Finland Janne Ahonen
2003–04 Norway Sigurd Pettersen Norway Sigurd Pettersen Slovenia Peter Žonta Norway Sigurd Pettersen Norway Sigurd Pettersen
2004–05 Finland Janne Ahonen Finland Janne Ahonen Finland Janne Ahonen Austria Martin Höllwarth Finland Janne Ahonen
2005–06 Finland Janne Ahonen Czech Republic Jakub Janda Norway Lars Bystøl Finland Janne Ahonen Finland Janne Ahonen
Czech Republic Jakub Janda
2006–07 Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer  Switzerland  Andreas Küttel Norway Anders Jacobsen Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Norway Anders Jacobsen
2007–08 Austria Thomas Morgenstern Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Finland Janne Ahonen[lower-alpha 4] Finland Janne Ahonen Finland Janne Ahonen (5)
2008–09  Switzerland  Simon Ammann Austria Wolfgang Loitzl Austria Wolfgang Loitzl Austria Wolfgang Loitzl Austria Wolfgang Loitzl
2009–10 Austria Andreas Kofler Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Thomas Morgenstern Austria Andreas Kofler
2010–11 Austria Thomas Morgenstern  Switzerland  Simon Ammann Austria Thomas Morgenstern Norway Tom Hilde Austria Thomas Morgenstern
2011–12 Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Andreas Kofler Austria Thomas Morgenstern Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer
2012–13 Norway Anders Jacobsen Norway Anders Jacobsen Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer (2)
2013–14  Switzerland  Simon Ammann Austria Thomas Diethart Finland Anssi Koivuranta Austria Thomas Diethart Austria Thomas Diethart
2014–15 Austria Stefan Kraft Norway Anders Jacobsen Germany Richard Freitag Austria Michael Hayböck Austria Stefan Kraft
2015–16 Germany Severin Freund Slovenia Peter Prevc Slovenia Peter Prevc Slovenia Peter Prevc Slovenia Peter Prevc
2016–17 Austria Stefan Kraft Norway Daniel-André Tande Norway Daniel-André Tande Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch
2017–18 Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch (2)*
2018–19 Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi *
2019–20 Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Norway Marius Lindvik Norway Marius Lindvik Poland Dawid Kubacki Poland Dawid Kubacki
2020–21 Germany Karl Geiger Poland Dawid Kubacki Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch Poland Kamil Stoch (3)
2021–22 Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi[lower-alpha 4] Austria Daniel Huber Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi (2)
2022–23 Norway Halvor Egner Granerud Norway Halvor Egner Granerud Poland Dawid Kubacki Norway Halvor Egner Granerud Norway Halvor Egner Granerud
Notes
  1. In the inaugural tournament, the first competition was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
  2. Innsbruck was the second event, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen third.
  3. Innsbruck was the first event, and Oberstdorf third.
  4. The competition was held in Bischofshofen due to bad weather

Records

Janne Ahonen is the only ski jumper to have won the tournament five times, with wins in 1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2007–08. Jens Weißflog was the first ski jumper to reach four wins, winning the tournament in 1984, 1985, 1991 and 1996. Helmut Recknagel, Bjørn Wirkola and Kamil Stoch have the next best record, winning three titles each. Wirkola's victories came in three consecutive years (1967–1969), a record still uncontested.

Janne Ahonen's fourth victory in 2005–06 was also the first time the tournament victory was shared, with Jakub Janda, who claimed his first Four Hills Tournament crown.

Jens Weißflog and Bjørn Wirkola have both won ten Four Hills Tournament events. Janne Ahonen and Gregor Schlierenzauer are next with nine victories, followed by Ryōyū Kobayashi with eight.

In 2000–01, the 49th edition of the tournament, Adam Małysz beat second placed Janne Ahonen by 104.4 points. This is the biggest winning margin in the tournament's history. He also won all four qualifications that year. The following year Sven Hannawald became the first person to win all four competitions in a single season. In 2017-18 Kamil Stoch has repeated Hannawald's record and year after, Ryoyu Kobayashi became the third person to win all four events.

Three nations each have sixteen victories: Austria, Finland and Germany (including nine victories earned by ski jumpers from East Germany, four - from West Germany and three - from unified German team). Fourth is Norway with eleven victories. Poland has five victories, Japan has three victories. Czechoslovakia and one of its successors the Czech Republic have two victories altogether, as have Slovenia. USSR has a single victory.

Overall winners

Record overall victories
Overall victoriesNameTournament(s)
5Finland Janne Ahonen1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08
4East GermanyGermany Jens Weissflog1983–84, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1995–96
3East Germany Helmut Recknagel1957–58, 1958–59, 1960–61
Norway Bjørn Wirkola1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69
Poland Kamil Stoch2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21
2Finland Veikko Kankkonen1963–64, 1965–66
East Germany Jochen Danneberg1975–76, 1976–77
Austria Hubert Neuper1979–80, 1980–81
Finland Matti Nykänen1982–83, 1987–88
Austria Ernst Vettori1985–86, 1986–87
Austria Andreas Goldberger1992–93, 1994–95
Austria Gregor Schlierenzauer2011–12, 2012–13
Japan Ryōyū Kobayashi2018–19, 2021–22

National quota

During the Four Hills Tournament many national jumpers from Germany and Austria are allowed to qualify for the competition. This allows them to show themselves and get experience. The national jumping team starts first in the qualification.

Notable participants

In 1965, the Polish jumper, Stanisław Marusarz (silver medal in World Championship, 1938 in Lahti) who was visiting the tournament, asked the jury in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to allow him a showcase jump. After a long debate, the jury agreed. Marusarz, who at this time was 53 years old (and not practicing jumping for nine years) achieved 66 meters, using borrowed skies and boots and making his jump in an official suit (in which he attended the New Years Party), which made the crowd applaud.[2]

See also

References

Media related to Four Hills Tournament at Wikimedia Commons

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