Prevc captures maiden Four Hills title, Tschofenig wins in Bischofshofen

Domen Prevc (SLO) captured his maiden Four Hills Tournament title, becoming the third Slovenian male ski jumper to win the Golden Eagle, following in the footsteps of Primoz Peterka (1997) and Domen’s older brother Peter Prevc (2016).

In the grand finale in Bischofshofen, Austria, Prevc finished second behind last year’s overall winner Daniel Tschofenig (AUT), but his consistent results accross all four events - including two wins - secured him the overall victory.

Prevc, who won the first two stages of the tour in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, already held a commanding 41.4-point lead over his closest challenger, Jan Hoerl (AUT), in the overall ranking ahead of the fourth and final stop. The 26-year-old further extended that lead to 42.3 points following his second place in Bischofshofen to convincingly grab the Golden Eagle ahead of Hoerl and Stephan Embacher (AUT). 

'A childhood dream that came true'

“It’s a really special moment for me”, Prevc said after receiving the Four Hills trophy. “It’s ten years since Peter’s Golden Eagle. Now, it’s (the trophy) in my hands. I'm overwhelmed with all the emotions, I feel amazing, super blessed. Everything is coming together right now. It’s just amazing that I managed to get in the best form for the Four Hills Tournament. The Eagle is the result of all the hard work and dedication. Winning the Golden Eagle is a childhood dream, a childhood dream that came true. I was dreaming about this moment."

Prevc qualified in top spot and kicked off with a 138.0m jump, earning 150.4 points for a 0.8 point lead over three-time Four Hills champion Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) after the opening round.

While Kobayashi fell to third after the final round, Tschofenig delivered a superb 140.5m second-round jump scoring 157.4 points for a combined total of 303.9, overtaking Prevc, who managed 138.5m and 149.4 points, by 4.1 points.

Prevc still triumphed over the four events, however, scoring 1195.6 points in the Four Hills ahead of Hoerl and Embacher.

Prevc knew the pressure was on

“Of course, the last jump today was super tough for me”, Prevc added. “I had a lot of pressure, even during the inrun I felt: this is for real now. I was like: don’t screw it up. I know how hard it can be, or how many things can go wrong. I wanted to focus and keep it going until the end. Just keep it safe, go with the flow. The final result was even more spectacular than I thought.”

“This means everything”, Prevc smiled, while pointing at the Golden Eagle. “It’s a big confirmation that my whole work is in the right direction. I just need to keep it consistent and keep it going.”

Tschofenig ends Four Hills Tour on a high

Meanwhile, last year's overall Four Hills champion Tschofenig ended his campaign on a high with the win in Bischofshofen. "This win is very important", Tschofenig said. "My Four Hills (campaign) was good, but I was always missing a little piece. I think we’ve figured it out now. I’m very, very happy with how it ended today."

"(A) Rollercoaster is the perfect word to describe it", Tschofenig summed up his Four Hills Tournament. "I started off well in Oberstdorf and had high hopes, but I didn’t really get it going in Garmisch and then also couldn’t fight near the top in Innsbruck. Here, apparently, it worked out again. I think we made some good changes jumping-wise, and set-up wise."

Tschofenig, who finished seventh in the overall ranking, also hailed Prevc' performance in the Four Hills Tour. "It's incredible", he said. "How he it it, from the beginning. He just went in as the absolute favorite and continued to surprise everybody. There was not a single moment where there was a doubt. So, very much congratulations to him."

Hoerl, Embacher, Stefan Kraft, Manuel Fettner (all AUT) and Ren Nikaido (JPN) rounded out the top eight in Bischofshofen. Nikaido, who denied Prevc the chance to complete the mythical 'Grand Slam' of the Four Hills after winning the Inssbruck-stop of the Tour, finished fourth overall, ahead of Kobayashi.

Stoch's last Four Hills event

Three-time Four Hills champion Kamil Stoch (POL), who will retire at the end of the season, made his last Four Hills tournament jumps on Tuesday and finished 18th in the Bischofshofen results.

"It was emotional, that's true", Stoch said afterward. "But I did my best, I did the best I could. It was very good in Oberstdorf, very good in qualifications in Garmisch. I’m thankful that I could jump in the second round here, that I could compete until the end. That I could do my best and say goodbye this way."

“Of course, I will remember the trophies I achieved over here", Stoch said. "There are just a lot of great memories that will stay with me.”

How the Four Hills Tournament works

66 athletes took the hill for qualifying on Monday and the top 50 qualified for the first round.

The top 50 were placed into a series of duels, with the top ranked athlete, facing the lowest ranked qualifier, and so on throughout the field. 

The winner of each duel would progress, as would five ‘lucky losers’ who recorded scores which ranked among the top five non-automatic qualifiers, from their first round.

The scores from the first round would be retained and added to the second round, this time without duels, to determine the overall standings.

The points total from each of the contests during the 2025/26 Four Hills Tournament will be combined to determine who becomes this season’s overall winner and takes home the Golden Eagle title.