4HT – 4.Bischofschofen – Loitzl

A sensational 57th Four Hills finale at the Paul-Ausserleitner Schanze crowned Austrian Wolfgang Loitzl. The young man who didn’t even won a World Cup event until 2009 (Garmisch) wins in commanding form, grabbing the points record for one stage (301) and for the whole tournament. Both his jumps were longer than the HS, with 142.5 and 141.5m respectively. His first effort received 5 times the maximum of 20 style points, while his second got another 4 times the highest grade. A performance i could only compare with Nadia Comaneci.

In my opinion, Loitzl will never do better in the Four Hills. He may win it again, but not in such style. He will always wonder why he didn’t jump 1 or 2 meters more in Oberstdorf to equal that magnificent performance by Hannawald in 2002. Ammann paid the price for being tipped as great favorite, while Schlierenzauer’s third place is realistic, with one sole astonishing performance in Innsbruck. Good overall form for Martin Schmitt earned him fourth overall with Vassiliev reaching his top form to end in fifth. Some notable performances by Neumayer, Chedal, Larinto and Watase. A tournament to forget for the likes of Kuettel, Janda and especially Adam Malysz.