Nikaido claims first World Cup win, denies Prevc Four Hills ‘Grand Slam’

Domen Prevc (SLO) was denied the chance to complete the mythical ‘Grand Slam’ in the Four Hills Tournament as Ren Nikaido (JPN) emerged victorious at the third stop of the event on Sunday in Innsbruck, Austria.

Securing the first World Cup win of his career, Nikaido finished just 0.5 points ahead of Prevc, who still leads the overall standings of the Four Hills Tournament with one competition to go.

Prevc had won the first two events in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but Nikaido stopped the streak in Innsbruck with strong jumps of 131 m and 128 m. After tying for first place with Stephan Embacher (AUT) following the first round, Nikaido produced a 128 m final jump and finished with 276.5 points to edge Prevc by the smallest of margins.

“I’m really glad I could show two good jumps,” Nikaido said. “Of course, they were not perfect, but still… it was enough to win.”

Embacher took third with 275.8 points, his second Four Hills podium after Garmisch-Partenkirchen, missing victory by 0.7 points. "I did two good jumps today here, in front of my home crowd," he said. "It was close. I’m really excited for Bischofshofen. I want to fight again for the top places."

Prevc had a difficult qualification day, placing only 30th after tricky winds on Saturday, but recovered well. He advanced from his knockout duel against Valentin Foubert (FRA) and climbed to fourth after the first round. A strong second-round 128 m (138.7 points) moved him up to second overall, but he could not quite overtake Nikaido.

“I made some mistakes,” Prevc admitted. “Sometimes you’re just not the best. Ren deserves it more than I do today; he was really in form.”

With one event left at Bischofshofen, Prevc still holds a commanding 41.4-point lead over Jan Hoerl (AUT). The last jumper with a lead that large at this stage was Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) in 2019, who went on to win the Golden Eagle. Prevc was cautious when asked about the tournament victory: "There are still two jumps to go. It will be a tough fight until the end and I still need to focus. I will just go and enjoy Bischofshofen and will keep it safe."

Runner-up Jan Hoerl (AUT) finished fourth in Innsbruck, while Felix Hoffmann (GER) was fifth. Last season’s overall Four Hills winner Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) placed sixth.

How the Four Hills Tournament works

68 athletes took the hill for qualifying on Saturday and the top 50 advanced to the first round. The first round uses head-to-head duels (top qualifier vs lowest qualifier, etc.); the duel winners progress plus the five 'lucky losers' with the best non-winning scores. Scores from the first and second rounds are added to determine the competition standings. The combined points from all Four Hills events decide the overall winner who receives the Golden Eagle.

Four Hills Tournament schedule (remaining)

5 Jan (Bischofshofen, AUT) — 16:30: Qualification 6 Jan (Bischofshofen, AUT) — 16:30: Individual competition

Results (Innsbruck)

1. Ren Nikaido (JPN) — 131 / 128 m — 276.5 pts
2. Domen Prevc (SLO) — (second-round 128 m) — 276.0 pts
3. Stephan Embacher (AUT) — 275.8 pts
4. Jan Hoerl (AUT)
5. Felix Hoffmann (GER)
6. Daniel Tschofenig (AUT)

See also: Four Hills Tournament (FIS)