Japan’s Ren Nikaidō produced the performance of a lifetime to claim his first ever victory of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, beating favourite Domen Prevc by 0.5 points on Sunday (4 January) at the third stop of the 2025-26 Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria.
Austria’s 19-year old former junior world champion Stephan Embacher completed the high quality podium, just 0.2 points behind Prevc, in what was a dramatic event in front of 26,000 people at the Bergisel Ski Jump, where the top three were separated by less than 40 centimetres.
Prevc had dominated the Four Hills Tournament 2025-26 so far, with wins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberstdorf. After the first round here, however, he trailed by 2.5 points and went into the final jump in fourth place. He produced a strong second jump that briefly moved him into first position. Nikaido, who led after the opening jump, then matched the Slovenian’s score in the final round and secured the victory.
The win cements a breakthrough season for the 24-year old Japanese, who had previously secured three podium finishes in the ski jump world cup this season.
Notably, Nikaido’s victory also denied Prevc from becoming only the fourth jumper to achieve a Grand Slam by winning all four stages of the competition.
The only four men to achieve this feat are Sven Hannawald, Kamil Stoch, and Ryoyu Kobayashi.
Embacher’s third place finish was deserved compensation for the home crowd, which had four Austrian athletes occupying the top four places in qualifying.
Prevc continues to lead the standings of the Four Hills Tournament with 895.8 points, 41.4 points ahead of Austria’s Jan Hörl. Embacher is third, just 0.3 points behind his countryman, and Nikaido moves up to fourth, 12,4 points behind the teenager.
Next up on the Four Hills Tournament is the fourth and final stage in Bischofshofen, Austria, on Monday (5 January).
AloJapan.com