The 70th 4-Hills-Tournament - When two fight ...

With the 70th 4-Hills-Tournament, this winter's first major event awaits the ski jumpers. Germany's Karl Geiger and Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi are the top favorites for the overall win of the 70th 4-Hills-Tournament. Geiger leads the overall World Cup right now with 594 points, he won twice and was second three times so far, the 25-year-old Oberstdorf-native is in his best shape ever, has the most stable technique and nerves of steel.

Ryoyu Kobayashi won three competitions this season (Ruka, Klingenthal, and Engelberg) and scored 496 World cup points, and that even though the 25-year-old missed the competitions in Ruka and Wisla due to a positive Covid-test. Kobayashi makes jumping look as easy as he did in 2018/19 when he won the 4-Hills-Tournament and the overall World Cup. 
Whoever wants to win the 70th 4-Hills-Tournament has to beat Kobayashi and Geiger, or the two would have to defeat themselves so that another one can take the big prize.

The fight behind the top favorites will be extremely exciting to see, there are quite a few athletes who are all capable of winning the 4-Hills-Tournament:

Halvor-Egner Granerud (NOR)
Last winter he was fourth in the 4-Hills-Tournament and the overall World Cup champion. The Norwegian took one win this season so far, in the World Cup opener in Nizhny Tagil (RUS), but after that, he was struggling with some technical issues. In Ruka, he failed to qualify twice and since then he has been fighting for stable jumps. The second jump of the Norwegian on Sunday in Engelberg was perfect, and therefore extremely important for Granerud. He is the top contender to take the overall title from the top favorites.
 
Marius Lindvik (NOR)
Lindvik is probably the most low-key athlete among those who can claim the overall title. The 23-year-old is in top shape right on time, he was third in Engelberg on Sunday and has the self-confidence that is needed. The only reason why he could not fight for the overall title last season was the fact that he could not compete in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck due to tooth problems. He was third in Oberstdorf and second in Bischofshofen, which shows the potential of the Norwegian.
 
Kamil Stoch (POL) 
The three-time Olympic champion has lots of experience. Just like the Polish team, Kamil Stoch has been struggling so far this winter, but that doesn't mean much for the 39-time World Cup winner. Stoch can be in top shape right on time and dominate the field with his experience and consistency. Last winter, Stoch was in a similar situation to now and he won the 69th 4-Hills-Tournament. He has already won the overall title three times (2016/2017, 2017/2018, and 2020/2021).
 
Killian Peier (SUI)
Peier was fourth twice last weekend in Engelberg, at first this was a huge disappointment for the currently best Swiss ski jumper. But the bronze medalist of the World Championships in Seefeld soon realized that he is currently in great shape and a fourth place is a fantastic result. The 26-year old is jumping extremely consistent right now, and this is exactly what's needed to win the 4-Hills-Tournament. Peier might be able to achieve what four-time Olympic champion Simon Ammann couldn't so far: Becoming the first Swiss winner of the 4-Hills-Tournament.
 
Stefan Kraft (AUT)
The Austrian has already claimed won World Cup win this winter, but he is still not in his best shape and lacks consistency. Similar to Kamil Stoch, he can also benefit from his experience. The two-time overall World Cup champion (2016/2017 and 2019/2020) and 2014/15 4-Hills-Tournament winner always has to be reckoned with.
 
In addition, there are other contenders, who might not be on top of the list right now, but might be able to finish on top if everything goes perfectly for them: For example the three Slovenes Anze Lanisek, Cene Prevc, and Timi Zajc, and Germany's Markus Eisenbichler, Pius Paschke and Constantin Schmid.
 
Facts about the 4-Hills-Tournament:
Venues and schedule: 
Oberstdorf (GER): Qualification Dec. 28 - 4 pm; Competition Dec. 29 - 4:30 pm
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER): Qualification Dec. 31 - 2 pm; Competition Jan. 1 - 2 pm
Innsbruck (AUT): Qualification Jan. 3 - 1:30 pm ; Competition Jan. 4 - 1:30 pm
Bischofshofen (AUT): Qualification Jan. 5 - 5:15 pm; Competition Jan. 6 - 5:30 pm
 
Spectators at the 4-Hills-Tournament:
The two competitions in Germany will be held without fans in the stands, 4000 (Innsbruck) and 3500 (Bischofshofen) can attend the competitions in Austria. On December 23rd it was decided that there will also be no spectators at both competitions in Austria.
 
Prize money: The overall winner will get a prize money of CHF 100,000.-.
 
The defending champion is Kamil Stoch of Poland.