Four Hills Tournament 1977/78

26th Four Hills Tournament
winner
Tour winner	Kari Ylianttila
Oberstdorf	Matthias Buse
Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Jochen Danneberg
innsbruck	Per Bergerud
Bischofshofen	Kari Ylianttila
Attendees
Nations	16
athlete	82
← 1976/77	1978/79 →

The international ski jumping competition 26th Four Hills Tournament 1977/78 was held from December 30, 1977 to January 6, 1978 in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany as well as in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in Austria . The tour was won by the Finn Kari Ylianttila . He was followed by five jumpers from the GDR .

Attendees

In preparation for the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti , Finland , the tour was considered to be the first assessment of the international ski jumping community. After the last three tours had lived mainly from the duel between Austria and the GDR, the omens were somewhat different this season. Toni Innauer , who had become vice world champion in ski flying in February 1977 , and his teammate and Olympic champion Karl Schnabl were injured playing soccer and were fighting to be connected. It was to be feared that Baldur Preiml's selection would be without her top people. Before the start of the tour, Claus Tuchscherer and the young newcomers Neuper and Kogler made the best impression . Tour winners Willi Pürstl and Edi Federer had never been able to build on the success of 1975, but like oldie Reinhold Bachler, at almost 33 years of age, they were still in the squad. In view of the expected performances of the Austrian eagles, Preiml applied for a larger number of starting places, which was also approved in the end. In the end, no fewer than 14 jumpers were used for Austria. In the German selection, the renovation continued under coach Happle. With Grosche and Sepp Schwinghammer, the two most powerful jumpers of the last few years were no longer in the squad. Now the DSV started to move up to the top of the world with the Schwarz brothers and a few other newcomers. In addition, there was a jumper in Leitner , who had already been successful here and there. In the GDR selection, the focus was primarily on the tried and tested. Compared to the previous year, only Thomas Meisinger , at least sixth on the tour, was replaced by the long-running Bernd Eckstein. One of the tour favorites was definitely Jochen Danneberg, who could have drawn level with the legendary Björn Wirkola with his third win in a row. Henry Glaß was also included in the group of contenders for victory, who after a second place in 1972 and third place in the previous year wanted to finally win his first tour. The GDR selection also had other top jumpers in the team with athletes likeuchek or Weber. From the other nations, the Swiss Walter Steiner was named first as a contender for victory. However, a start for the new ski flying world champion was long uncertain, the Swiss had had to undergo a meniscus operation before the season. The extended circle of favorites included Alexei Borowitin from the Soviet Union and František Novák from Czechoslovakia, who both attracted attention at the Ski Flying World Championships. The great unknowns were the Scandinavians. While the Norwegians had already made it into the top ten again and again last year through Johan Sætre and Per Bergerud, the Finns as World Cup hosts could not be assessed at all. Starting with only three athletes, the team consisted of permanent guest Törmänen, returnees Ylianttila and newcomers Puikkonen. While Törmänen's best times seemed to have passed, Ylianttila had at least attracted attention with a few podium places at the end of the preseason. In general, however, the expectations of the Finns were not too high.

nation	Athletes
BR Germany	Frank Rombach , Christoph Schwarz , Peter Leitner , Peter Schwinghammer , Hubert Schwarz , Hans-Jürgen Eschrich , Wolfgang Hahn
GDR	Henry Glaß , Jochen Danneberg , Martin Weber , Harald Duschk , Falko Weißpflog , Mathias Buse , Jürgen Thomas , Bernd Eckstein
Austria	Reinhold Bachler , Hans Millonig , Rudi Wanner , Alois Lipburger , Claus Tuchscherer , Armin Kogler , Hubert Neuper , Willi Pürstl , Edi Federer , Rupert Gürtler , Alfred Pungg , Gebhard Aberer , Alfred Groyer , Karl Schnabl
Bulgaria	Petar Dimitrov , Bojan Stoikov , Vladimir Brejchev
Finland	Jouko Törmänen , Kari Ylianttila , Jari Puikkonen
France	Patric Dubiez , Eric Fourrier
Italy	Ermes de Crignis , Ivano Wegher , Lido Tomasi
Japan	Yūji Kawamura , Sakae Tsuruga
Yugoslavia	Zdravko Bogataj , Marko Mlakar , Ivo Zupan , Bogdan Norčič , Andrej Kaizer
Canada	Tauno Käyhkö ,
Norway	Johan Sætre , Per Bergerud , Rune Hauge , Per Steinar Nordlien , Stein Glömmi , Jens Unosen
Poland	Tadeusz Pawlusiak , Jozef Tajner
Switzerland	Robert Mösching , Hansjörg Sumi , Mario Rinaldi , Harald Reichenbach , Georges Jaquiery , Oliver Favre , Walter Steiner
Soviet Union	Alexei Borowitin , Alexander Karapusow , Yuri Ivanov , Sergei Saitschik , Vladimir Chernyayev , Valeri Savin , Vladimir Bubenow
Czechoslovakia	Leoš Škoda , František Novák , Ján Tánczos , Ivo Felix , Josef Hýsek , Josef Rusko , Josef Samek
United States	John Denney , Jeff Denney , Jeff Davis , Kip Sundgaard , Jim Denney

Oberstdorf

• Date: December 30, 1977
• Country: BR Germany 
• Hill: Schattenbergschanze

The first training for the opening jump ended with a bang. The Austrian Karl Schnabl decided not to take part in the first two jumping competitions due to his performance as the weakest Austrian. Instead, he traveled to Tarvisio , Italy , to train on the hill there. The next day it didn't look any better for the Preiml protégés either. After Pürstl and Federer fell, it was decided not to use them for the first jump. For Innauer there was at least a grace period after his indisputable jumps, with him they wanted to wait for the trial jump on the day of the competition. But it didn't get that far, the superstar of the last few years left that evening. While the GDR jumpers showed expected training jumps, the Finn Ylianttila was the surprise of the day. After jumps of 105.5 and 106 m, he jumped 113 m in the last training jump, but reached into the snow. The distance was three meters above the hill record. With that, the Finn suddenly slipped into the group of title contenders. This group now also included Walter Steiner, who finally confirmed his start.

Chaotic weather conditions shaped the first jump in Oberstdorf, so that it was canceled in the second round for the first time in the tour's history due to strong wind and heavy snowdrifts, which resulted in a dull inrun. This made the first run a binding result. And this held some surprises. Not favorite Danneberg was ahead, but his team-mate Matthias Buse, who was able to celebrate his first victory of the day on the tour. Behind it was a jumper, Martin Weber, who could not necessarily be expected there. The Finn Ylianttila confirmed his strong training performance with third place. With 5th place, Peter Leitner ensured satisfaction among the hosts and Walter Steiner reported back with seventh place among the world's best. Only the Austrians experienced a total crash. The best athlete was 18-year-old Armin Kogler in 28th place.

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Matthias Buse	GDR	118.2
02	Martin Weber	GDR	110.1
03	Kari Ylianttila	Finland	109.3
04th	Bernd Eckstein	GDR	105.7
05	Peter Leitner	BR Germany	105.1
06th	Jochen Danneberg	GDR	104.7
07th	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	101.3
08th	Henry Glass	GDR	094.8
09	Sakae Tsuruga	Japan	092.3
10	Per Bergerud	Norway	091.9

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

• Date: January 1, 1978
• Country: BR Germany 
• Hill: Large Olympic hill
• Spectators: 15,000

As in the previous year, the superior winner of the New Year's event was Jochen Danneberg and the distribution of points was almost exactly the same. Only then was the defeated Toni Innauer, this time it was the Finn Ylianttila. With jumps of 95 and 93.5 m, which meant the maximum passage distance, the Thuringian was the measure of all things and stood out from the second-placed Finn with 13.4 points. The dominance of the GDR selection, which had seven jumpers in the top ten after the first round, was impressive. This strength was now also evident in the overall standings, in which, led by Danneberg, no fewer than six GDR jumpers were in the top ten. Only the Finn Ylianttila was able to stand up to the overwhelming power of the GDR. From the hosts' point of view, Leitner's renewed top ten placement was gratifying, and co-favorite Steiner was also in the race with 9th place.

Intermediate result after 2 jumps
Item	Jumper	Points
01.	Danneberg	340.3
02.	Ylianttila	330.5
03.	Bosom	330.3
04th	cornerstone	314.7
05.	Glass	314.4
05.	Weber	314.4

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Jochen Danneberg	GDR	235.6
02	Kari Ylianttila	Finland	222.2
03	Henry Glass	GDR	219.6
04th	Falko Weißpflog	GDR	218.3
05	Leoš Škoda	Czechoslovakia	213.0
06th	Matthias Buse	GDR	212.0
07th	Bernd Eckstein	GDR	209.0
08th	Peter Leitner	BR Germany	208.6
09	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	207.5
10	Jürgen Thomas	GDR	204.8

innsbruck

• Date: January 4, 1978
• Country: Austria 
• Ski jump: Bergisel ski jump
• Spectators: 12,000

The first training session on January 2nd showed that the group of favorites for the day could get even bigger. While Ylianttila confirmed his excellent form, compatriot Törmänen with 103 m now also made people sit up and take notice. There was also the Norwegian Bergerud with 102 m. In addition, the Austrians were hopeful, as Olympic champion Karl Schnabl had returned and made a good impression. The next day of training, January 3, 1978, ended with a shock for the GDR selection. Tour favorite and overall leader Jochen Danneberg falls headlong into the run after jumping 91 m. He suffered abrasions on his face and, after the initial diagnosis, a ligament strain in the ankle. As a result, the ankle was put in a cast and Danneberg went home on the same day. So the cards in the overall standings were completely reshuffled, because behind the runner-up Ylianttila was Matthias Buse from the GDR, only 0.2 points behind.

While the trial run for the GDR selection still got off to a good start, Falko Weißpflog set a new hill record with 106 m, the GDR athletes showed slight nerves without their captain Jochen Danneberg. After second place in the first round, Matthias Buse slipped to sixth place after a moderate 94 m and Falko Weißpflog was also pushed out of the podium. Ultimately, jumping on the Bergisel was dominated by the Scandinavians. For the first time since the Garmisch Jumping in 1966, three athletes from Northern Europe were on the podium again, although the Norwegian Per Bergerud was not necessarily the expected winner of the day. What was impressive was the performance of the Finns, who placed all three jumpers in the top ten, two of them on the podium. And there was also relief for the hosts. With Claus Tuchscherer in fifth place, there was the first top ten placement of the tour for the ÖSV-Adler. In the overall standings, Ylianttila was now leading with a lead of 16 points, followed by five jumpers from the GDR alone.

Intermediate result after 3 jumps
Item	Jumper	Points
01.	Ylianttila	569.6
02.	Bosom	553.6
03.	Weißpflog	536.2
04th	Weber	532.9
05.	cornerstone	532.8
06th	Glass	532.3

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Per Bergerud	Norway	247.1
02	Kari Ylianttila	Finland	239.1
03	Jouko Törmänen	Finland	231.2
04th	Falko Weißpflog	GDR	229.2
05	Klaus Tuchscherer	Austria	227.3
06th	Matthias Buse	GDR	223.3
07th	Jari Puikkonen	Finland	219.0
08th	Martin Weber	GDR	218.5
09	Bernd Eckstein	GDR	218.1
10	Henry Glass	GDR	217.9

Bischofshofen

• Date: January 6, 1978
• Country: Austria 
• Hill: Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze
• Spectators: 10,000

In a long and dramatic competition there was ultimately a sovereign winner in Kari Ylianttila. However, the patience of jumpers and spectators was put to a hard test. After there had already been a shortened run-up in the trial run, the first run after Falko Weißpflog's record jump over 108.5 m was canceled and repeated with a shortened run-up. Since Weißpflog jumped with start number 45, a large part of the field had already jumped by then and the repetition took a correspondingly long time. Ylianttila was least impressed by this, who presented with 106 m in the regular first round, a distance that only the very well-disposed Walter Steiner could reach with 104 m. When Matthias Buse jumped a lot shorter with 94 m in the second round, Ylianttila no longer went all out, but was able to confidently celebrate the day's victory with 101.5 m. Behind him came the Swiss Steiner, who had finally returned to the top of the world. The GDR selection once again showed their team strength with six jumpers in the top ten. With the ÖSV team, the returnee Karl Schnabl continued to show rising form, with 13th place he was the best Austrian in the daily standings.

Item	Jumper	country	Points
01	Kari Ylianttila	Finland	242.3
02	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	229.0
03	Henry Glass	GDR	227.9
04th	Martin Weber	GDR	227.5
05	Falko Weißpflog	GDR	221.1
06th	Bernd Eckstein	GDR	220.8
07th	Matthias Buse	GDR	219.7
08th	Per Bergerud	Norway	218.9
09	Harald showerk	GDR	217.2
10	Jouko Törmänen	Finland	209.7

Total status

Although Ylianttilas had announced good form through his training performances, very few expected this tour victory. Of course, the elimination of the worst competitor and up to then overall leader Jochen Danneberg also contributed to this. It remains idle to speculate whether the Thuringian would have won the third tour in a row without this mishap. Ultimately, the Finn won over an armada of GDR athletes who, like last year, brought six jumpers into the top ten. The placements of the small Finnish team with places one, nine and eleven were remarkable. The eighth rank of the Swiss Steiner two months after his meniscus operation also drew great respect. The loser was the team from Austria. The local press wrote of debacle and with Claus Tuchscherer's 24th place in the overall ranking as the best place, that was not an understatement. The Austrians mainly asserted material problems, and the exceptional athlete Innauer and at least partially also Olympic champion Schnabl were missing.

rank	Surname	nation	Overall rating	Colonel village	Garmisch- Partenk.	Inns- Bruckhaus	Episcopate hofen
01	Kari Ylianttila	Finland	812.9	109.3 / 03.	221.2 / 02.	239.1 / 02.	242.3 / 01.
02	Matthias Buse	GDR	773.2	118.2 / 03.	212.1 / 06.	223.3 / 06.	219.7 / 07.
03	Martin Weber	GDR	760.4	110.1 / 02.	204.3 / 11.	218.5 / 08.	227.5 / 04.
04th	Henry Glass	GDR	760.2	094.8 / 08.	219.6 / 03.	217.9 / 10.	227.9 / 03.
05	Falko Weißpflog	GDR	757.4	088.8 / 14.	218.2 / 04.	229.2 / 04.	221.1 / 05.
06th	Bernd Eckstein	GDR	753.6	105.7 / 04.	209.0 / 07.	218.1 / 09.	220.8 / 06.
07th	Per Bergerud	Norway	749.7	091.9 / 10.	191.8 / 22.	247.1 / 01.	218.9 / 08.
08th	Walter Steiner	Switzerland	734.4	101.3 / 07.	207.5 / 09.	196.6 / 24.	229.0 / 02.
09	Jouko Törmänen	Finland	727.8	088.7 / 16.	198.2 / 15.	231.2 / 03.	209.7 / 10.
10	Harald showerk	GDR	718.8	089.9 / 11.	194.3 / 18.	217.4 / 11.	217.2 / 09.

literature

• Willi Knecht: The divided arena. Presseverlag Bahr, Nuremberg 1968.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of December 30, 1977, p. 7
2. ^ "That makes no sense ..." In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 29, 1978, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
3. ↑ «Young eagles became young sparrows» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 30, 1978, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ ^{a b} Neues Deutschland from December 31, 1977, p. 5
5. ↑ Neues Deutschland, December 30, 1977, p. 5
6. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of December 30, 1977, p. 7
7. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of January 2, 1978, p. 6
8. ↑ "Schnabls comeback succeeded" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 3, 1978, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
9. ^ "Shock for the GDR team" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 4th 1978, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
10. ↑ Neues Deutschland from January 5, 1978, p. 5
11. ↑ Neues Deutschland, January 7, 1978, p. 5