The Four Hills Tournament is also fascinating at its 66th anniversary. Edition. The strong performances of the German ski jumpers led by Richard Freitag and Andreas Wellinger have increased the interest in the neighbouring country once again, and the qualification on Friday (16.30 hrs/live ORF one) in the starting place Oberstdorf is practically sold out. Ex-winner Stefan Kraft feels comfortable in the role of the hunter.
The 26-year-old Friday, the three-time season’s winner and the first German World Cup champion since Martin Schmitt, came to the German-Austrian season’s series 17 years ago:”The Richie is the top favourite”, also relegated double world champion Kraft to the champion of Lahti in the mixed-competition, giving him the role he deserves after five top 2 places in a row.
The Norwegians around Daniel Andre Tande are also strong in the team and Polish defending champion Kamil Stoch has recently demonstrated consistency at a high level. The Austrians, on the other hand, with the exception of power, have been mostly lagging behind in the Olympic winter. There were only six top ten finishes in seven competitions, four of them by strength – resulting in only the fourth place in the Nations’ Cup.
The reasons for this weak performance are, of course, also the injuries suffered by two top performers. The two-time overall winner Gregor Schlierenzauer only made his comeback after a knee injury two stations before the tour and Michael Hayböck has not yet found his top form after a torn ligament in his ankle. Manuel Fettner was unable to match his previous strong performance.
In Heinz Kuttin’s opinion, Clemens Aigner and Daniel Huber (in the beginning) did quite well for their circumstances. However, the first phase of the season was not satisfactory, the ÖSV-Cheftrainer admitted, noting that there was no large ski jump available for training between the competitions at home.
The final training before Christmas in Garmisch was all the more important:”It was a lot of work. We have taken a long time to check what is close to everyone’s heart,”said Kuttin, who was more of an observer there.
Andreas Widhölzl and Alexander Diess, Schlierenzauer from Stams-Coach Christoph Strickner and Harald Rodlauer, supervised the jumpers.”It was a really good training”, emphasized Kuttin.”I am convinced that we can take steps forward during the tour”.
World Cup winner Kraft has not yet won this season (“There was no perfect competition yet”), but he has positioned himself again among the elite “I am convinced that Stefan will deliver a very good tour. He is absolutely a candidate for a podium finish,”Kuttin told the APA.
Kraft returns to the Schattenbergschanze in Oberstdorf as the day’s winner of 2014 and 2016. There he celebrated his first of twelve World Cup victories three years ago, a few weeks after the 53rd World Cup. and so far the last success of record winner Greg Schlierenzauer.
“I feel ready for the tour,” explained the 24-year-old Kraft, looking forward to the test of strength with optimism. This is good for me.”