Hoerl wins in Innsbruck - Kobayashi new 4HT leader
Jan 03, 2024·Ski Jumping
Austria's Jan Hoerl won the third competition of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck (AUT) on Wednesday.
Hoerl came out on top ahead of Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi and Michael Hayboeck (AUT) in an exciting competition characterized by difficult wind conditions.
In the battle for the overall tour victory, the final in Bischofshofen (AUT) on Saturday will see a showdown between Ryoyu Kobayashi and Andreas Wellinger (today in 5th place).
The constantly shifting wind at the final in Innsbruck created additional tension in the already exciting battle for the day's victory and overall tour lead.
The jury even had to take a 10-minute break seven jumpers before the end of the final round because the wind was too strong. This was a good and correct decision by the jury.
The best jumps after the forced break were then made by Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi and the day's winner Jan Hoerl, Hoerl in particular impressed with his final jump and secured the second World Cup victory of his career (after Wisla 2021).
""For me it was full attack, victory or coffin, that's what works best for me. The atmosphere was very cool, but it made me nervous up there at the start. The wait was really not easy," said Hörl. The man from Bischofshofen now has a home match at the tour finale.
"Hats off to Jan, he really put himself out there, that was extremely cool today," said a delighted ÖSV coach Andi Widhözl about the success of Hörl and the entire ÖSV team at their home event on the Bergisel.
Six Austrians made it into the top 13 in the competition, which meant an outstanding team result.
Kobayashi takes the tour lead
With his victory on the day, Hörl also managed to jump up to third place in the overall tour rankings.
After his second place today, Ryoyu Kobayashi from Japan is in the lead.
Kobayashi took 6.6 points from the previous leader Andreas Wellinger and now leads by 4.8 points (857.6 points) ahead of Wellinger (852.8 points).
Hörl follows in third place with a gap of 18.8 points, followed by Stefan Kraft with a further 10.2 points behind Hörl.
Nothing is impossible, also because the weather forecast for the final in Bischofshofen does not predict easy conditions, but normally the decision for the overall victory of the tour is made between Kobayashi and Wellinger.
"Andi jumped really well today, he delivered a great competition. The conditions were different but Andi showed good jumps, that was important and he's on and now it's on to Bischofshofen. The hill in Bischofshofen suits Andi and I think that Andi has a good chance with his speed advantage," explained German coach Horngacher Wellinger's prospects for the final next Saturday.
"I really like the hill in Bischofshofen and hope that the conditions there will play along again, then the gap to Ryoyu is nothing, it's only about 2.5 meters," Wellinger said ahead of the final.
So the fans can look forward to a real showdown between Ryoyu Kobayashi and Andreas Wellinger on Saturday. The training and qualification will take place on Friday (16:30), the competition on Saturday (16:30).
