Four Hills Tournament – Interesting and Fun Facts

The Four Hills Tournament is a German-Austrian ski jumping competition organized annually since 1953.

Four Hills Tournament interesting facts

1. The first competition took place on January 1, 1953 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Austrian – Josef Bradl won.

2. The most times 4-Hills-Tournament was won by Janne Ahonen – 5 (1998/99, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2007/08).

3. In the 2001/02 season, Sven Hannawald was the first competitor in the history of the 4-Hills-Tournament to win all competitions. Kamil Stoch did it in the 2017/18 season and Ryoyu Kobayashi in the 2018/19 season.

4. 12 athletes from Austria won the 4-Hills-Tournament (Andreas Goldberger (2 times), Hubert Neuper (2 times), Gregor Schlierenzauer (2 times), Ernst Vettori (2 times), Sepp Bradl, Thomas Diethart, Andreas Kofler, Stefan Kraft, Wolfgang Loitzl, Thomas Morgenstern, Willi Pürstl and Andreas Widhölzl).

5. The 1954/55 season was won by Finn Hemmo Silvennoinen. Interestingly, he was close to and would not have appeared in the last competition, which would have ruined his chances of winning. He broke the ban on drinking alcohol on New Year’s Eve and only thanks to the support of the team, the coach allowed him to continue jumping.

6. In the 1968/69 season, the Norwegian jumpers took part in a fight at the nightclub in Bischofshofen. After the police intervention, they were only reprimanded and were allowed to continue participating in the competition.

7. Athletes from 20 countries took part in the first competition of the 4-Hills-Tournament. Over 30,000 spectators watched their jumps live.

8. Bjørn Wirkola from Norway was the only athlete in history to win the 4-Hills-Tournament 3 times in a row (1966/1967, 1967/1968 and 1968/1969).

9. Janne Ahonen stood on the podium 29 times in the competitions of the 4-Hills-Tournament.

10. The most points during a single tournament was scored by Peter Prevc in the 2015/16 season (1139.4).

11. In the 2000/01 season, Adam Małysz won the 4-Hills-Tournament with the biggest advantage in history. He overtook Janne Ahonen by 104.4 points (about 57 m).

12. In the nearly 70-year history of the Four Hills Tournament, individual competitions were canceled only twice (January 4, 2008 and December 28, 2014).

13. From the 2nd edition, the Tournament is always organized between December 28 and January 7.

14. In the 1963/64 season, Józef Przybyła was one step away from winning the tournament. In the last jump, after landing, he ran over a rock, which caused a fall and a huge loss of points. German journalists called him “the Polish record hunter”.

15. In 1966, 53-year-old Stanisław Marusarz was the special guest of the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In a suit with a tie, in borrowed boots and skis, he jumped 66 meters. Interestingly, it was his first jump in over 9 years.

16. 8 athletes in history have won the 4-Hills-Tournament without winning any competitions. Jane Ahonen was in this situation for the last time in the 1998/99 season.

17. Adam Małysz in the 2000/01 season was the first player in history to score over 1000 points (1045.9).

18. In the 2019/2020 season, as many as 15 jumpers scored over 1000 points.

19. In the 2005/06 season, for the first time in history, there were two winners of the 4-Hills-Tournament. Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda scored the same number of points.

Added: Mati

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

Four Hills Tournament questions and answers

How to become a 4-Hills-Tournament winner?

In order to win, you need to collect the highest number of points in all 8 jumps of the tournament.

Answer: Mati

Is the tournament always organized on the same hills?

Yes, the tournament takes place on two hills in Germany (Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and two hills in Austria (Innsbruck and Bischofshofen).

Answer: Mati

Can women play in the 4-Hills-Tournament?

Currently, this is not possible.

Answer: Mati

What is the KO system?

The 50 best players in the qualification are divided into 25 pairs (according to the pattern: 1 of 50, 2 of 49, 3 of 48, etc.). The winners of each pair and the 5 losers with the most points advance to the final series.

Answer: Mati

When was the KO system introduced?

This system was introduced from the 1996/97 season.

Answer: Mati

What are the current records of the hills where the 4-Hills-Tournament is taking place?

• hill in Oberstdorf: Sigurd Pettersen – 143.5 m (December 29, 2003),
• hill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Dawid Kubacki – 144 m (January 1, 2021)
• hill in Innsbruck: Michael Hayböck – 138 m (January 4, 2015),
• hill in Bischofshofen: Dawid Kubacki – 145 m (January 6, 2019).

Answer: Mati