Austrian ‘Eagles’ dominate Lillehammer opener with podium sweep

Austria celebrated a perfect start to the men’s World Cup ski jumping season in Lillehammer with a podium sweep. Daniel Tschofenig claimed the victory on the large hill, edging teammates Jan Hörl and Stefan Kraft in a tight opener.

Tschofenig, last season’s overall World Cup winner, produced his best jumps of the day when it mattered, going 133 m and 129 m after a difficult training period. “I didn’t expect the win at all—so it’s even cooler that it happened,” he told ORF, noting that the competition nerves helped him execute at full attack.

Kraft led at the halfway mark after a 138 m opening jump but slipped to third following a wind-affected second attempt of 120 m. He missed matching Matti Nykänen’s tally of 46 World Cup wins by 5.2 points, yet remained upbeat: “A podium to start—I won’t complain,” he said, pointing to the hefty +37 wind compensation points in the second round and accepting the conditions as part of the sport.

Hörl climbed from fifth to second in the dense field. “It looks like we’re picking up right where we left off. Mega cool—Team Austria is strongly represented again, and that makes me proud,” he said, also tipping his cap to Tschofenig’s mental strength.

Slovenia’s Domen Prevc, second at the break, finished fourth. Host nation Norway endured a subdued opener, with Marius Lindvik the best Norwegian in 16th. Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang were back in action after short suspensions tied to Norway’s suit-scandal at the World Championships.

Germany’s top names also stumbled: Karl Geiger missed the second round, while last year’s winner Pius Paschke and Andreas Wellinger were out already in qualifying. Philipp Raimund carried the German flag with a strong sixth place.

The result capped an outstanding Lillehammer weekend for Austria, coming a day after a mixed-team third place for the ÖSV quartet.