Tschofenig seals Courchevel GP double as Strøm falls after Saturday success

Austrian star Daniel Tschofenig edged out reigning Summer Grand Prix series champion Philipp Raimund twice in the second stop of this year’s schedule in Courchevel (FRA).

Tschofenig, who had a relatively disappointing 2025/26 campaign after winning the World Cup the previous year, beat his German rival by 1.7 points on Saturday, and was just 1.2 points in front on Sunday.

He headed a strong team effort with Austria's men having five representatives in the top 10 on both days. 

"I didn’t really expect this result, because I think there were one or two guys who were actually a little stronger than me in training," said Tschofenig after Sunday's win. "Nevertheless, it was very close, I showed some good jumps, and I’m very happy to start the summer like this.

"I think we were very strong as a team. Maybe it didn’t look quite that way in training, but I think we have a really strong team that we can build on."

Double Olympic champion Anna Odine Strøm was a comfortable victor in Saturday’s women’s competition, but fell on her first jump on Sunday and withdrew from proceedings after walking away unaided.

Saturday’s runner-up Yuki Ito went one better on Sunday, as the Japanese took a clear lead in the overall Grand Prix standings at the midway point.

Raimund unable to stop Tschofenig in Courchevel

Olympic Normal Hill champion Philipp Raimund started the defense of his Grand Prix title in Courchevel, but was shaded by Daniel Tschofenig in both competitions.

Less than three points separated the top five in Saturday’s first round with Maximilian Ortner (AUT) leading the way from teammate Tschofenig. Naoki Nakamura (JPN) lay third ahead of another Austrian, Stefan Kraft, with Raimund in fifth.

Raimund then pulled out something special in round two with a tailwind making life difficult for the field. He jumped 131.0m for a score of 145.4 points and an imposing total of 270.1. Kraft was then below-par, but Nakamura slotted into second place - 2.3 points behind Raimund - with superior style marks to those achieved in his opening effort.

Tschofenig’s distance of 129.5m in round two was not quite as far as Raimund, but excellent style marks saw him match the German in scoring terms preserve his 1.7-point advantage. And while Ortner’s second jump was solid enough, it was not quite enough to land him on the podium with Nakamura besting him by just eight-tenths of a point. Stephan Embacher made it three Austrians in the top five with Marius Lindvik (NOR) sixth.

Sunday’s first round was also closely contested with just 1.3 points covering the top four. This time Tschofenig led from Raimund with Ortner in third ahead of Kraft. This time, Kraft delivered in round two, jumping 131.5m for the second time in the day for a total of 272.7 points and a sizeable advantage.

Ortner’s subsequent leap of 135.5m with a light tailwind was the longest of the day, but he was unable to control his landing and ended up more than 10 points behind Kraft. With the gate moved down one, Raimund managed to sail out to 132.0m and obtained fine style marks to again take the lead, this time by 4.4 points.

First-round leader Tschofenig had to contend with a noticeable tailwind, but went out to 128.5m and superb style marks - four 19.0s and a 19.5 - to extend his advantage over Raimund from 0.4 to 1.2 and secure a double on the weekend.

Swiss veteran Gregor Deschwanden was fifth with Jonas Schuster ensuring Austrians filled four of the top six places. Lindvik finished seventh ahead of Nakamura who leads the overall Grand Prix standings.

Kraft commented, "It was a really difficult competition today because of the conditions. It kept raining and the wind wasn’t easy either, so naturally the competition took quite a bit longer.

"But in the end, it was a really cool competition. I think the spectators got to see some really long jumps, and for us athletes it’s also great when you can still produce good jumps in conditions like these.

"I'm very happy with my third place. I made two good jumps. Of course, there are always little things you can improve but, for this stage of the summer, it’s already very solid.

"Daniel is very strong at the moment. He showed again here that he is jumping at a very high level. We’re also doing very well as a team, and of course that makes it a lot of fun. Results like today are nice and give you confidence, but of course our main goal is the winter season.”

Ito profits from Strøm misfortune to take series lead

Some of Norway’s big guns entered the Grand Prix fray in Courchevel with double Olympic gold medalist Anna Odine Strøm the headline act. The 28-year-old took a grip of the competition on Saturday by scoring 122.9 points with her opening jump of 129.0m, more than 12 points clear of the pack led by Josephine Pagnier (FRA).

Norwegian teenager Ingvild Synnoeve Midtskogen was fourth after round one, and went into the lead with a fine second jump of 127.5m. Her lead lasted mere seconds, however, as Yuki Ito flew out to 133.0m to take over at the top by 6.5 points.

Pagnier was well below her best in round two and had to settle for seventh place, but Strøm backed up her opening jump with the best score in the final round to take victory over Ito by just over 14 points.

Kurumi Ichinohe (JPN) was fourth ahead of Ema Klinec (SLO). Former Nordic Combined star Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR) had her first Grand Prix top 10 finish in ninth, one spot ahead of Japanese legend Sara Takanashi.

For more than a few seconds on Sunday, it looked like Strøm would pick up where she left off the previous day as she sailed out to 130.0m on her opening jump. But the Norwegian crashed on landing to the obvious concern of those at the French resort.

Fortunately, she was able to get up quickly and walk through the finish area without assistance. Strøm required three stitches in a cut on her elbow and, despite qualifying for the second round in 30th place, elected not to continue.

Ito led by almost eight points thanks to a jump of 127.5m, and she was able to stay clear of the rest to claim her first Grand Prix win for nine years. Selina Freitag (GER) rose from fourth to second with China’s Ping Zeng producing the best jump in round two to claim her first Grand Prix podium finish in third.

"I'm super happy and really satisfied with this weekend," admitted Ito, who now returns to Japan to continue her World Cup preparations. "Second place yesterday and the victory today – that’s really great. My form is good, but I also know what I still need to work on before the winter.

"I was worried about Anna after her fall, but I’m very relieved that nothing serious happened to her."

Midtskogen was fourth having been second after round one, with Klinec slipping from third to fifth, and Pagnier taking sixth place. And a fine weekend’s work saw 32-year-old Ito - at the start of her final campaign before retirement - move to the top of the standings ahead of Klinec and Pagnier.

The third stop of this year’s Grand Prix is in Rasnov (ROU) on September 19-20, with the finale scheduled for Klingenthal (GER) on October 24-25.