Kraft wins in Bischofshofen - Kobayashi the 4HT
Jan 07, 2024·Ski Jumping
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi has won the 72nd Four Hills Tournament.
At the fourth and final competition in Bischofshofen, Kobayshi finished second in the daily rankings for the fourth time. Andreas Wellinger ultimately had no chance against the outstanding Kobayashi in the final. Nevertheless, Wellinger can be very satisfied with second place.
The winner of the day in Bischofshofen was the Austrian Stefan Kraft, third place in the daily ranking went to the Slovenian Anze Lanisek.
It was Kobayashi's third Tour victory after 2019 and 2022. The 27-year-old explained after his triumph: "I did exactly what I set out to do, it worked out really well. My performance was really good today. We'll certainly be celebrating a bit with the team tonight." The last time Finland's Janne Ahonen won the Four Hills Tournament without winning tone of the four stages was in 1999.
The last remaining competitor in the battle for the overall tour ranking, Germany's Andreas Wellinger, finished 5th in the daily ranking in Bischofshofen and lost over 20 points to Kobayashi. So in the end it was a clear case for the Japanese.
Andreas Wellimger stated:
"First of all, I'm basically proud of what I did at the tour.I got off to an incredibly cool start in Oberstdorf and was able to reproduce that in Garmisch. Funnily enough, I wasn't quite able to do it on the ski jumps, where I'm actually better from the past.
Why is it so bitter today? Because I definitely took a real step forward compared to yesterday. It's no excuse, but I skied much slower than normal in the first run. Unfortunately, I jumped in a phase where the snowfall increased. It didn't feel so good to ride.I just didn't have the energy. Ryoyu jumped incredibly well, I probably wouldn't have beaten him today anyway. But that annoys me a bit. All in all, you have to acknowledge without envy that Ryoyu is a damn good ski jumper and did it best."
In the overall tour rankings, two more Austrians, Jan Hörl and Michael Hayboeck, finished in 4th and 6th place behind Stefan Kraft in third place, with Anze Lanisek from Slovenia in 5th place.
Stefan Kraft leads the overall World Cup with 909 points ahead of Andreas Wellinger (697 points) and Ryoyu Kobayashi (591 points)
The Ski Jumping World Cup continues next weekend in Wisla (POL). Wisla is the start of the Poland Tour, which then continues with the stops in Sczcyrk and Zakopane.
