Andreas Wellinger wins 4HT opener in Oberstdorf
Dec 29, 2023·Ski Jumping
Andreas Wellinger from Germany won the opening competition of the 72nd Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf (GER) on Friday. In front of 25,500 enthusiastic spectators, Wellinger came out on top in a high-class competition ahead of Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi and top favorite Stefan Kraft from Austria.
"Every moment that happens here is indescribable. The crowd here today, the quality of my jumps, I've never heard a crowd sing the German anthem so loud, it was all just amazing today.
I didn't see the green line very well, so at first I wasn't sure if it was enough to win, but I knew that the jump was good, and when the 1 was displayed, it was an outstanding moment," explained the acclaimed winner.
It was the 28-year-old Wellinger's sixth World Cup victory and his first in a competition as part of the Four Hills Tournament. With his victory, Wellinger now also leads the overall tour standing by three points ahead of Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi (309.3 points - 306.3 points).
"Andreas Wellinger's first jump today was extremely good, I think it was the best jump Andreas has made this winter. In the second jump he still had reserves on the take-off, but then he won again in the flight. We will analyze this in detail tonight, but of course we are super happy that he won," said national coach Horngacher, pleased with his athletes success.
Second-placed Ryoyu Kobayshi explained: "I got back into shape at the right time, it went very well for me today. I now hope that it continues like this at the next competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Monday".
Top favorite Stefan Kraft was happy about third place: "The two in front jumped very well today, they deserve to be up there. For me, third place is a great success. Andi absolutely deserves it, he's come very close a few times this winter, and somehow I'm also glad that I didn't ruin the atmosphere in the stadium today, because it was really unique".
Fourth place went to Lovro Kos from Slovenia, a surprise man who definitely has the potential to cause a big surprise later on in the tour. Fifth place went to Marius Lindvik, the best Norwegian.
Philipp Raimund and Karl Geiger in sixth and seventh place and Pius Paschke in 11th place ensured another strong German team result.
The 72nd Four Hills Tournament continues on Sunday with the qualification and then on Monday with the New Year's competition in Garmsich-Partenkirchen.
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