Jan Hörl has ended the ÖSV ski jumpers’ eleven-year winless streak on the Bergisel. The 25-year-old from Salzburg won the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament on Wednesday in Innsbruck and achieved an outstanding team result with five ÖSV eagles in the top nine.
Kobayashi took over the tour lead
Before the final competition on Saturday (4:30 p.m./live ORF 1) in Bischofshofen, the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi took over the tour leadership from the German Andreas Wellinger. Kobayashi jumped into second place in Innsbruck, 8.8 points behind Hörl, and is heading to Bischofshofen 4.8 points ahead of Wellinger, who was fifth on Wednesday. Hörl is now third in the overall standings, 23.6 points behind, followed in fourth and fifth place by Stefan Kraft (-33.8) and Michael Hayböck, who jumped onto the podium with third place in the daily standings.
In fantastic weather but also changing wind conditions, 21,000 fans saw the first red-white-red victory on the Bergisel since Gregor Schlierenzauer in 2013. Hörl laid the foundation for his second World Cup victory following his debut success in December 2021 (Wisla) with an outstanding first jump. “It means a lot to me, second victory at home, indescribable, I’m super happy,” said the team Olympic champion in an ORF interview.
“Full attack”
“For me it was full attack, win or coffin, that works best for me. The scenery is very beautiful, but it did make me a little nervous. I’ve actually never been as consistent as I was this year, I’m super proud.” Now we’re going home “full of self-confidence, I’m incredibly happy as a Bischofshofener, even more so with this form,” explained Hörl.
With Hörl, third-placed Hayböck, Kraft (6th), Daniel Tschofenig (8th) and Clemens Aigner (9th), the Austrians dominated in Innsbruck, and Stephan Embacher also celebrated a great World Cup debut. The 17-year-old Tyrolean finished in 13th place.
Hayböck celebrates Stockerlplatz
“It’s incredibly cool to be standing on the podium on Bergisel, a childhood dream, my first podium place in four years. To have the luck of the proficient in front of the backdrop and to be able to pull off really good jumps, I’m speechless,” said Hayböck. No luck with the wind had any more strength, who had to wait 20 minutes before his second jump. “If it’s good followingwards, I’m happy to wait, but unfortunately it wasn’t good. The jump went well, unfortunately I haven’t been fully rewarded yet,” explained the World Cup leader. “Stay patient, don’t despair, the jump gives you hope. I’m unlikely to be happy for the others,” said Kraft, who no longer sees a chance of overall victory. “Now it’s over, maybe the podium is still over. But we’re enjoying the day.”
Manuel Fettner, who came to Innsbruck fourth in the tour standings, missed qualifying for the second round with a jump of 108 m in 46th place. “It’s shit, we actually wanted a wind jump,” said the 38-year-old Tyrolean, who mightn’t cope with the changing wind conditions and fell out of the race for a top position in the overall ranking. The 20-year-old Jonas Schuster (32./122.5) also did not make it into the second round.
