2025/26 FIS Ski Jumping Men’s World Cup Preview

Nov 20, 2025·Ski Jumping

Strap in, because while the long-awaited FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season is finally set to launch in Lillehammer (NOR), the 2025/26 campaign will also have the added glamour of incorporating an Olympic Games – meaning guaranteed high-drama throughout!

After a near eight-month-gap since the season finale of the men’s campaign in Planica (SLO), the world’s best male athletes will renew their rivalries at Norway’s iconic Lysgårdsbakken Ski Jumping Hill, which was built for the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

As witnessed 12 months ago, the field will first take on the Mixed Team Large Hill (LH) discipline on Friday (21 November), before individual World Cup ‘double-headers’ for male and female athletes across Saturday and Sunday (22-23 Nov).

During the 47^th FIS Ski Jumping men’s World Cup season there will be 30 individual ‘race’ opportunities, as well as three men’s Team contests. For the 15^th edition of the FIS Ski Jumping women’s World Cup season there will be 33 individual events.

Reigning Crystal Global winner Daniel Tschofenig (AUT), who also claimed a maiden Four Hills crown at the turn of the year, will undoubtedly be one of the key names to watch, as will his national team-mates Jan Hoerl and Stefan Kraft.

Beijing 2022 Normal Hill (NH) Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) showed strong form by winning the final FIS Grand Prix event over the European summer months, while Philipp Raimund (GER) claimed the overall title.

Could the German make the same kind of start achieved by his team-mate Pius Paschke last year, now at the beginning of this campaign? Here FIS takes a look at some of the ones-to-watch ahead of the 2025/26 Ski Jumping World Cup season.

DANIEL TSCHOFENIG – DEFENDING CHAMPION GOES FOR GLORY ONCE MORE

From a World Cup perspective, it was a near-perfect campaign for the Austrian who had entered the year with no victories at this level and just five podium finishes from the previous two seasons.

During 2024/25 alone Daniel Tschofenig attained 15 top-three results, including eight victories, perhaps most notably in his homeland in early January, with a stunning comeback victory in the ‘battle of Bischofshofen’ to secure the prestigious Four Hills crown.

Aged just 23, he is not only poised to become the sport’s new star, but potentially carve out a legacy as one of the all-time greats.

There was perhaps one notable disappointment for the Austrian last season at the FIS Nordic Ski Championships in Trondheim (NOR), with Tschofenig placing 21^st in the Normal Hill and ninth in the Large Hill disciplines.

He would though claim silver as part of his nation’s Team Large Hill line-up and will be looking to add a maiden Olympic honour to his collection come Milano-Cortina in February 2026.

JAN HOERL SET FOR SUCCESS AFTER ‘SILVER LINING’ SEASON?

Statistically speaking 2024/25 was without doubt the best FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season of the Austrian’s career, but it was in some senses a case of ‘so-near-but-so-far’ when it came to both the Crystal Globe and the Four Hills crown, in which he placed second twice.

With 14 podium finishes during the season he was only marginally short of Tschofenig’s total of top-three World Cup results, but while 10 runner-up positions were impressive, two victories would not be enough to chase down his national rival.

Hoerl was though able to outshine his countryman at the World Championship, where he collected silver (LH) and bronze (NH) individually.

Judging by performances during the pre-World Cup Grand Prix series, the pair are likely to be two of the regular title contenders throughout the 2025/26 campaign.

CAN KING KOBAYASHI RECAPTURE PAST GLORIES?

The reigning Olympic Normal Hill gold medallist, three-time winner of the Four Hills Golden Eagle and double Crystal Globe champion, is one of the most popular athletes on the tour and he will again be a key-one-to-watch during the new ‘Olympic’ season.

The Japanese star struggled in the opening half of the 2024/25 campaign, but following a double-header success in his homeland, in Sapporo (JPN), his form improved dramatically and he would cap that ‘comeback’ with World (LH) bronze.

By Ryoyu Kobayashi’s high standards five top-three results during the World Cup was a significant drop on the 15 he attained during 2023/24, but strong results in the summer Grand Prix suggest he is ready to challenge at the summit of the sport once more.

DOMEN PREVC SEEKS STRONG START

After a ‘nightmare’ opening to the season, in which he failed to achieve a top-20 result until after the New Year, Prevc made dramatic improvements once the ‘Flying Hill’ contests began.

Not only would the Slovenian claim three victories, among six top-three results, but he would also claim the first World title of his career, with victories in the individual Men’s Large Hill as well as Team Large Hill disciplines.

Perhaps an even greater landmark achievement followed, with Prevc also setting a new world record, en-route to claiming the Flying Hill World Cup crown.

The landmark distance of 254.5m in Planica beat the previous mark of 253.5m, set by Stefan Kraft in 2017 and at the age of 26, we may just be starting the see his true potential if he can sustain this level of success over the course of a season.

HOPES OF HOME SUCCESS FOR HOSTS

The passionate Norwegian fans would of course love nothing more than success for host nation athletes on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup campaign.

With reigning Normal Hill World champion Marius Lindvik and fellow Olympic medallist Johann Andre Forfang now back in the nation’s line-up they will undoubtedly present strong challenges cross both individual and team disciplines across the weekend in Lillehammer.

OTHER ONES-TO-WATCH IN LILLEHAMMER

Stefan Kraft (AUT) – Eight World Cup podium finishes would be an impressive return for the majority of the field, but the man who has won the overall crown on three occasions, together with a host of other major honours across World Championships and Olympic Games, is of a different class.

The Austrian says he is “please with the progress” he has made since the end of last season, as he looks to improve on his overall ranking of third last season.

Anze Lanisek (SLO) – While unable to match the heights of the 2022/23 campaign, where he claimed 16 podium finishes, a strong second half of the season saw six-time World Championship medallist remind the field exactly what he is capable of.

A strong start in Lillehammer could well propel the Slovenian towards becoming a regular podium contender once more, as he heads towards an Olympic medal tilt in February.

Andreas Wellinger (GER) – The two-time Olympic gold medal winner enjoyed a strong finish to the 2024/25 campaign, with victory in the Raw Air contest, following the Norwegian double-header across Oslo / Vikersund in March, while the German also claimed Normal Hill World silver.

Gregor Deschwanden (SUI) – The Swiss ski jumper made an impressive start to the 2024/25 season, with three World Cup podium finishes in December helping identify him as a possible contender for the Four Hills crown.

While ultimately that did not materialise, the 34-year-old is a proven performer and will be aiming to secure a long-awaited first World Cup victory this season, in what may be one of his last on the tour.

Pius Paschke (GER) – He missed the podium only once in the opening eight events last season; winning five of those. However, after his last double-header victory in his homeland (Titisee-Neustadt), in the middle of December, Paschke was unable to record another individual top-three for the rest of the season.

Full of a full run down of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup calendar CLICK HERE.