Here’s to something new!
The 71st season starts today. Four Hills Tournament with the qualification in Oberstdorf.
And of course – it will be exciting again. But where are the guys that (almost) everyone knows?
Hannawald, Nykänen, Weißflog, “Eddie the Eagle” or TV star Jauch – these were the names that made the ski jumping circus a topic of conversation around the turn of the year.
And this Wednesday? The favorites are only for experts: Dawid Kubacki (32/Poland), Stefan Kraft (29/Austria), Anze Lanisek (26/Slovenia) and Halvor Egner Granerud (26/Norway) are fighting for the title.
The best German, Karl Geiger (29), only has a mini chance.
But maybe this tour will finally produce new guys again…
Sport-Highlights 2022 Tuchel loses his nerve
Hannawald managed four wins and one poster
Eight jumps for eternity!
At the Four Hills Tournament 2001/02, Sven Hannawald (48) was the first athlete to win ALL four individual competitions. And he became a pop star in his sport, ending up as a poster in the teen magazine “Bravo”.
Only “King Kamil” Stoch (35/Poland) on the 2017/18 tour and Ryoyu Kobayashi (26/Japan) 2018/19 were able to repeat the “Grand Slam”.
Incidentally, Hannawald never won the Four Hills Tournament again after his triumph. In 2005 he ended his career.
Sven Hannawald was voted Germany’s athlete of the year in 2002
Eddie the Eagle leapt to the heart
In terms of sport, he was the worst ski jumper of all time. And yet often THE favorite on the ski jumps.
In 1987/88 and 1988/89 a certain Michael Edwards (59), a bricklayer from Cheltenham, competed in the tour. As “Eddie the Eagle” (“Eddie, der Adler”), the Brit conquered a place in the hearts of fans. His rankings: 112, 110, 120, 120, 95, 94.
He became famous for cleaning his glasses, which had fogged up due to the cold. Edwards is farsighted and relies on strong glasses. Edwards in retrospect: “Any jump could be my last.”
He was the first jumper ever to compete for Great Britain at the Olympics (Calgary 1988) – he was also last in all competitions here. In 2016, his story even hit the cinemas.
Cult jumper Michael Edwards, who delighted the fans as “Eddiethe Eagle”.
13 million viewers at Jauch
From 2000 to 2007, RTL broadcast the Four Hills Tournament – a novelty!
Presenter Günther Jauch (66) and expert Dieter Thoma (53) led through the “Formula 1 of the winter”. Jauch had given ski jumping in Germany a face. His entertaining and at the same time well-founded and journalistic reporting set new standards.
Unforgotten: In 2002, 13.23 million viewers watched the historic Hannawald triumph live on RTL – a record to this day.
2003: Günther Jauch (left) and Dieter Thoma comment for RTL
The brave Fichtelberg flea against the wild Finns
They shaped a ski jumping era!
For ten years Jens Weißflog (58) and Matti Nykänen († 55/Finland) were the biggest competitors in the ski jumping circus.
Two winners who couldn’t have been more different.
► The brave Weißflog from the Ore Mountains was overall winner of the Four Hills Tournament in 1984, 1985 (then still for the GDR), 1991 and 1996.
High flyer: Jens Weißflog won three gold medals at the Olympic Games
► In 1983 and 1988 the wild Finn Nykänen won the tour.
After the active time, the crash followed at Nykänen. Drugs, too much alcohol, violence. He stripped in nightclubs, was in jail for attempted manslaughter, beat up his wife,
Nykänen died of pneumonia on February 4, 2019. Weißflog: “For me he is the greatest of all time. In the end, what remains is that he left far too early.”