The 71st Four Hills Tournament finally took place again in front of a magnificent audience!

This year’s Four Hills Tournament at the traditional venues of Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen was remarkable above all for one thing: the audience. After ski jumping fans had only been able to watch their heroes on television for the past two years, the audience’s irrepressible joy at being able to be there live again was noticeable at all four competition venues. The stadiums were sold out on all competition days and millions of people again watched the masters of the air on TV.

For Stefan Kraft and Michael Hayböck the developments during the tour were really cool, even if a podium finish in one of the competitions or in the overall ranking unfortunately did not turn out yet. As sixth and seventh in the final table, the two are at the top of a strong Austrian team.

The victory in the overall ranking went to Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud ahead of Poland’s Dawid Kubacki and Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek. The three jumpers dominated the individual jumping events in an impressive manner and were undisputed as TOP 3 of the overall ranking.

Stefan Kraft wanted to show after his rather botched tour last year that it can be different and delivered already in the first jump in Oberstdorf as fifth. Michael Hayböck just missed the top 10, but could convince with his jumps. At the New Year’s Jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Michi made it into the top 10; Stefan, through no fault of his own, unfortunately did not have a good day, finishing in 18th place.

In front of almost 20.000 people at the Bergisel in Innsbruck especially Stefan showed a great performance as fourth in the daily ranking, Michi also made it into the top 10 as seventh. Michi fared much better in Bischofshofen. The Upper Austrian finished 4th in the daily ranking as the best Austrian.

In Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, Michi & Krafti were joined by their mascots Fin & Claw for the first time in two years as part of the JumpandReach family team. While Michael and Stefan thrilled with their jumps, the shark and the eagle delivered top performances in the spectator area. Hundreds of children high-fived the mascots, countless selfies were taken with them and, of course, everyone who wanted one also received a warm hug from the cuddly mascots.

After the 71st Four Hills Tournament, the ski jumpers hardly have time to catch their breath, after the competitions in Zakopane/Poland and Sapporo/Japan, the ski flying on the Kulm in Bad Mitterndorf is on the agenda for the last weekend in January.