Felix Hoffmann finishes fifth in Innsbruck

Felix Hoffmann once again confirmed his excellent form by finishing fifth in the competition in Innsbruck at Bergisel. Three out of the five German athletes made it through to the final round.

From a German perspective, the third event of the Four Hills Tournament at Bergisel in Innsbruck was marked by one constant: Felix Hoffmann. The athlete once again delivered a strong performance and underlined his ambitions for a top position in the overall standings of the tournament. While other German jumpers are still searching for consistency, Hoffmann impressed with two powerful jumps. Distances of 126.5 and 130.5 meters allowed him to move up one position in the final round. He eventually finished in an excellent fifth place, keeping him well within reach of the podium in the overall ranking.

Behind Hoffmann, Philipp Raimund was the second-best German athlete of the day. Although his stay in Innsbruck did not go entirely as planned, including a crash in the outrun during qualification and an unexpected elevator incident, the 25-year-old remained focused. With solid jumps of 126 and 125 metres, Raimund finished the competition in 12th place.

After a tense first round, Pius Paschke also managed to qualify for the final. Having lost his knock-out duel, he advanced as a lucky loser but was unable to improve in the second round. His jump of 118 metres resulted in 28th place overall.

For Karl Geiger and Andreas Wellinger, the Four Hills Tournament remains a challenge. Both athletes made it through qualification but were eliminated after the first round of competition. Geiger narrowly missed out on the final and finished 31st. Wellinger had an unfortunate landing, which affected his style scores and ultimately ended his competition early. The search for lightness and confidence in their jumping continues for the experienced members of the German team.

Horngacher summed up after the competition: “The conditions were really great today, very fair. I am very, very happy with Felix, he showed a great second jump. Philipp did very well in the first jump, but unfortunately not quite as well in the second. I think we can definitely be satisfied here for Bergisel. We performed well, and even the athletes who were struggling a bit at the back improved slightly. We are now on the right track.”

The day’s victory at Bergisel went to Ren Nikaido of Japan, who celebrated the first World Cup win of his career. Domen Prevc finished second and remains the overall leader of the Four Hills Tournament. Stephan Embacher of Austria completed the podium.

See the official competition results