The 65th edition of the Four Hills Tournee began today with qualification in Obersdorf, Germany. The historic tour features four stops between Germany and Austria, with separate qualification rounds for each stop. The Tournee has a unique match-pairing feature for the first of the two competitive rounds, and draws crowds upwards of 40,000 per event.
US jumpers Will Rhoads, Kevin Bickner and Mike Glasder did not qualify among the top-50 athletes from the round today. Each stop of the tour has a separate qualification, and the athletes will receive the chance to compete next in Garmisch, GER on December 31.
USA Nordic’s greater-North American team did see some success in qualification, with Canada’s Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes making it into the competition after a 123.5m jump in qualification. He will compete tomorrow, and will have pair off against 2010 Four Hills Champion Andreas Kofler of Austria. With three top-30’s so far this season, Mackenzie will strive to improve upon his current ranking of 28th in the World Cup standings.
Bickner also has a top-30 World Cup result this season – 23rd in Klingenthal, Germany – and he stands in 39th in the Overall. He will be hungry for more points in 2017, and teammates Rhoads and Glasder will look earn their first World Cup points of the season in the coming days.
Be sure to watch the Four Hills events live on NBC Sports.com. For a schedule, see below. All events will also be available to replay after completion.
| Date | Start Times (MST) | Event | Location | |
| 12/30/16 | 8:45 AM | First Round – Competition | Oberstdorf HS137 | |
| 12/31/16 | 6:00 AM | Qualification | Garmisch HS 140 | |
| 1/1/17 | 6:00 AM | First Round – Competition | Garmisch HS 140 | |
| 1/3/17 | 6:00 AM | Qualification | Innsbruck HS 130 | |
| 1/4/17 | 8:00 AM | First Round – Competition | Innsbruck HS 130 | |
| 1/5/17 | 8:45 AM | Qualification | Bischofshofen HS 140 | |
| 1/6/17 | 8:45 AM | First Round – Competition | Bischofshofen HS 14 | |
See the full Ski Jumping World Cup calendar on FIS here
