Windy Engelberg World Cup: Schuster top Austrian, Embacher sets hill record

A week before the Four Hills Tournament, Austria’s ski jumpers were again searching for a podium in challenging, windy conditions at the FIS World Cup in Engelberg.

Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) won the competition, ending the winning streak of Domen Prevc (SLO). Kobayashi prevailed by 3.6 points over Prevc, denying the Slovenian a sixth straight victory. Germany’s Felix Hoffmann completed the podium in third.

For Austria, Jonas Schuster was again the best finisher, taking sixth after a fifth place the day before, and heading toward his first Four Hills with confidence. Teammate Stephan Embacher, 19, finished eighth and set a new distance record on the Gross‑Titlis hill with a 145 m jump in the first round, though he struggled slightly on landing. The day prior, he had even suffered a fall.

The experienced Austrians had a tougher time in the wind lottery: Jan Hörl finished 15th, Stefan Kraft 19th, and Daniel Tschofenig failed to qualify for the second round. As the team regroups before the Four Hills, Hörl emphasized that the veterans need to clear their heads and find their usual lightness again.