Four Hills Tournament 1960/61

9th Four Hills Tournament
winner
Tour winner	Helmut Recknagel
Oberstdorf	Juhani Kärkinen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Koba Zakadze
innsbruck	Kalevi Kärkkinen
Bischofshofen	Helmut Recknagel
Attendees
Nations	12 ( AUT , FIN , FRA , FRG , GDR , ITA , NOR , SUI , SWE , TCH , URS , YUG ,)
athlete	73
← 1959/60	1961/62 →

The 9th Four Hills Tournament 1960/61 began on December 30th with the kick-off in Oberstdorf . After the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , there was jumping on the Bergisel in Innsbruck on January 6th, Epiphany . The final competition in Bischofshofen was held on January 8th. After the political quarrels on the last tour in the so-called flag dispute, as a result of which the jumpers from the GDR and other Eastern Bloc countries did not compete, this time the organizers avoided everything that could have caused another scandal. The government of the Federal Republic of Germany remained tough on the flag issue, but the organizers found an alternative solution. No national flags were hoisted at the award ceremonies, only the club flags of the athletes. The sporting management of the GDR team was able to live with this compromise and thus the newly crowned Olympic champion of Squaw Valley, Helmut Recknagel, was a big tour favorite at the start. In addition to him, the Finns, Austrians and the jumpers from the Soviet Union were among the favorites. In the end, Helmut Recknagel was the first jumper ever to win the tour for the third time ahead of the Austrian Otto Leodolter and the Finn Kalevi Kärkinen.

Nominee athletes 60/61

With Nikolai Kamenski, Max Bolkart and the two-time tour winner and Olympic champion Helmut Recknagel, three tour winners were at the start. The reigning world champion Juhani Kärkinen joined the team.

nation	Athletes
BR Germany	Max Bolkart , Helmut Kurz , Hermann Anwander , Hubert Witting , Georg Thoma , Helmut Wegscheider , Wolfgang Happle , Alois Haberstock , Axel Zerlaut , Rudi Duffke , Heini Ihle , Edi Lengg , Josef Pichler , Arthur Bodenmüller , Wolfgang Schüller , Hias Winkler
GDR	Helmut Recknagel , Veit Keuert , Günter Oettel , Willi Wirth , Werner Lesser , Kurt Schramm , Peter Lesser , Günther Pollmer , Lothar Heyer , Siegbert Münch
Austria	Willi Egger , Walter Habersatter , Otto Leodolter , Gerhard Niederhammer , Walter Steinegger , Albin Plank , Peter Müller , Ferdl Wallner , Baldur Preiml , Willi Köstinger , Horst Moser , Ernst Kröll , Max Golser , Ernst Kopp , Alfred Brunner , Georg Lackner , Sepp Lichtenegger
Finland	Juhani Kärkinen , Kalevi Kärkinen , Veikko Kankkonen
France	Robert Rey , Phil Devouassoux
Yugoslavia	Marjan Pečar , Jože Šlibar , Miro Oman , Peter Eržen
Italy	Nilo Zandanel , Dino De Zordo , Giacomo Aimoni , Bruno De Zordo
Norway	Ole Tom Nord , Olaf Solli , Gunnar Lie
Sweden	Kjell Sjöberg , Gösta Nordin , Harry Bergqvist
Switzerland	Toni Cecchinato , Peter Wenger , Ueli Scheidegger
Soviet Union	Nikolai Kamensky , Nikolai Shamow , Koba Zakadze , Yuri Subarew , Vyacheslav Ivannikov
Czechoslovakia	Jaromír Novlud , Drahomír Jebavý , Dalibor Motejlek

Oberstdorf

At the opening event in Oberstdorf, the ski jumping world champion from 1958, Juhani Kärkinen, left the reigning world and Olympic champion Helmut Recknagel behind with a 10 point lead. Recknagel struggled to make his jump in the first round and also got bad posture marks, so that in the end it was only enough for 6th place. The Swede Kjell Sjöberg caused a surprise, finishing second. The Olympic third from Squaw Valley, Otto Leodolter from Austria, took third place.

• Date: December 30, 1960
• Country: BR Germany 
• Hill: Schattenbergschanze

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Juhani Kärkinen	Finland	227.0
02	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	223.0
03	Otto Leodolter	Austria	220.0
03	Kalevi Kärkinen	Finland	220.0
05	Koba Zakadze	Soviet Union	218.0
06th	Helmut Recknagel	GDR	217.0
07th	Veit Kühr	GDR	215.0
08th	Nikolai Shamov	Soviet Union	213.5
09	Walter Habersatter	Austria	212.5
10	Ole Tom North	Norway	211.0

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

On New Year's Day, in front of 35,000 spectators, the winner was Koba Zakadze. After 1956, the Georgian was able to celebrate another victory in Innsbruck. He laid the foundation for this in the first round when he jumped the best distance of the day with 84 m. In addition, there were good posture grades, not always a matter of course for him. He was also sure of the second jump and the victory could not be taken from him. Behind them, Helmut Recknagel took second place. After the first round, still ninth, he managed to jump onto the podium with the best distance in the second round of 77.5 m. There was a little sensation behind Recknagel. The Italian Nilo Zandanel took third place, one point behind the Olympic champion. This was the first podium finish for an Italian jumper on the tour. In the overall standings, the Finn Juhani Kärkinen led ahead of Zakadse and the steady Swede Sjöberg after 2 competitions. Helmut Recknagel and the Austrian Leodolter were together in fourth place, only 5 points behind the overall leader.

• Date: January 1, 1961
• Country: BR Germany 
• Hill: Large Olympic hill

Intermediate result after 2 jumps
Item	Jumper	Points
01.	J. Karkinen	440.0
02.	Zakadze	438.5
03.	Sjöberg	436.5

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Koba Zakadze	Soviet Union	220.5
02	Helmut Recknagel	GDR	218.0
03	Nilo Zandanel	Italy	217.0
04th	Otto Leodolter	Austria	215.0
05	Nikolai Kamensky	Soviet Union	214.0
06th	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	213.5
07th	Juhani Kärkinen	Finland	213.0
08th	Yuri Subarev	Soviet Union	212.0
09	Kurt Schramm	GDR	209.5
09	Nikolai Shamov	Soviet Union	209.5

innsbruck

At the construction site at Bergisel, which was being converted for Olympia 64, an exciting competition with a dramatic final took place in front of 15,000 spectators. After the first round, the acclaimed Austrian Otto Leodolter led. Before the start of the second round, the jury shortened the run-up, as weaker jumpers had also reached quite high distances by then. In addition, gusty wind made competition difficult. After Otto Leodolter was in the lead for a long time, and fellow favorites like Juhani Kärkinen, Zakadse or Sjöberg could not intervene in the decision, Helmut Recknagel, the penultimate jumper, was sure of his distance of 81.5 m, took the lead and was already celebrated as the winner. But with a set of 84.5 m, the Finn Kalevi Kärkinen snatched victory from the Olympic champion with a wafer-thin 0.9 point lead. In the overall standings, however, Recknagel was now ahead of the Austrian Leodolter. Since the two were only 4.2 points apart, the hosts in Bischofshofen still hoped for an overall Austrian victory.

• Date: January 6, 1961
• Country: Austria 
• Ski jump: Bergisel ski jump

Intermediate result after 3 jumps
Item	Jumper	Points
01.	Recknagel	652.6
02.	Leodolter	648.4
03.	Zakadze	614.2

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Kalevi Kärkkinen	Finland	218.5
02	Helmut Recknagel	GDR	217.6
03	Otto Leodolter	Austria	213.4
04th	Olaf Solli	Norway	212.2
05	Veikko Kankkonen	Finland	211.6
06th	Wolfgang Happle	BR Germany	211.0
07th	Nikolai Kamensky	Soviet Union	210.4
08th	Helmut Wegscheider	BR Germany	209.2
09	Albin Plank	Austria	207.7
10	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	207.0

Bischofshofen

The eagerly awaited duel between Helmut Recknagel and Otto Leodolter initially faded into the background when the 19-year-old Wolfgang Happle from Neustadt in the Black Forest jumped a new hill record with 99 m. Helmut Recknagel countered and took the lead after the first round with a stylish 98.5 m jump. Otto Leodolter came first in 5th place. Because of these large distances, the inrun was shortened by 3 m before the start of the second run. Nevertheless, Leodolter jumped 94 m, best in the second round. However, Helmut Recknagel also managed this distance, so that he won the day, his sixth overall, with a 3.5 point lead. The Italians, who were able to place 2 jumpers in the top ten, ensured another success.

• Date: January 8, 1961
• Country: Austria 
• Hill: Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Helmut Recknagel	GDR	229.1
02	Otto Leodolter	Austria	225.6
03	Kalevi Kärkinen	Finland	221.1
04th	Nikolai Shamov	Soviet Union	219.3
05	Wolfgang Happle	BR Germany	212.8
06th	Olaf Solli	Norway	211.8
07th	Nilo Zandanel	Italy	210.0
08th	Kurt Schramm	GDR	209.7
09	Dino De Zordo	Italy	208.7
10	Koba Zakadze	Soviet Union	207.7

Overall rating

Helmut Recknagel was the first jumper to win the Four Hills Tournament for the third time. After a somewhat bumpy start, he improved and made everything clear with his win of the day in Bischofshofen. After his third place on the last tour, the Austrian Otto Leodolter now took second place. The Finnish brothers Kärkinen came in third and fifth. Noteworthy were the 6th place of the Swede Sjöberg and the 7th place of the Italian Zandanel, which left some strong jumpers behind them. The teams from Germany and Norway were among the disappointments. Your jumpers had nothing to do with the outcome of the decisions at any time.

rank	Surname	nation	Overall rating	Colonel village	Garmisch- Partenk.-	Inns- bruck	Episcopate hofen
01	Helmut Recknagel	GDR	882.0	217.0 / 06.	218.0 / 02.	217.6 / 02.	229.1 / 01.
02	Otto Leodolter	Austria	874.0	220.0 / 03.	215.0 / 04.	213.4 / 03.	225.6 / 02.
03	Kalevi Kärkinen	Finland	862.1	220.0 / 03.	202.5 / 20.	218.5 / 01.	221.1 / 03.
04th	Koba Zakadze	Soviet Union	851.9	218.0 / 05.	220.5 / 01.	205.7 / 11.	207.7 / 10.
05	Juhani Kärkinen	Finland	850.7	227.0 / 01.	213.0 / 07.	203.9 / 12.	206.8 / 11.
06th	Kjell Sjöberg	Sweden	848.2	223.0 / 02.	213.5 / 07.	207.0 / 10.	204.7 / 15.
07th	Nilo Zandanel	Italy	839.6	209.5 / 11.	217.0 / 03.	203.1 / 14.	210.0 / 07.
08th	Olaf Solli	Norway	829.5	205.5 / 20.	200.5 / 26.	212.2 / 04.	211.8 / 06.
09	Nikolai Shamov	Soviet Union	827.9	213.5 / 08.	209.5 / 09.	185.1 / 36.	219.3 / 04.
10	Wolfgang Happle	BR Germany	826.8	194.5 / 39.	208.5 / 11.	211.0 / 06.	212.8 / 05.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kärkinen before Sjöberg and Leodolter . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 31, 1960, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
2. ↑ FIS results list
3. ↑ Only Otto Leodolter still has a chance . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 3, 1961, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ FIS results list
5. ↑ Otto Leodolter still has a chance . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 8, 1961, p. 28 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
6. ↑ FIS results list
7. ↑ ^{a b} The best jumper won the ski jumping hill tournament . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 10, 1961, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
8. ↑ FIS results list

literature

• Robert Kauer, Raymund Stolze, Klaus Taglauer: 50 + 1 years International Four Hills Tournament Flying & Siegen . 3. Edition. wero press, Pfaffenweiler 2002, ISBN 3-9808049-0-9 .