Manfred Schützenhofer is the new tour president

Manfred Schützenhofer from Bischofshofen is the new President of the Ski Jumping Four Hills Tournament. At the annual presidents' meeting, which took place in Kitzbühel, the chairmen and presidents of the tour partner clubs from Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bergisel Innsbruck unanimously appointed the 53-year-old president from Bischofshofen as the successor to Dr. Peter Kruijer (Oberstdorf), who has held the office for the past three years. The office of the Four Hills Tournament will remain in Oberstdorf.

“The appointment as President of the Four Hills Tournament is a great honor for me and a huge challenge that I am very much looking forward to,” said Schützenhofer. Together with his management colleagues Georg Geiger (SC Oberstdorf), Michael Maurer (SC Partenkirchen) and Alfons Schranz (SC Bergisel Innsbruck), Schützenhofer had already presented the previous tour president Dr. Peter Kruijer (Oberstdorf) with the small tour eagle at the tour's spring meeting in Innsbruck in mid-May. “The tour has a lot to thank you for, Peter, you really did a great job,” explained SCP boss Michael Maurer at the award ceremony.

With the election of Schützenhofer as the new Tournament President, the presidency of the Four Hills Tournament will, as agreed, switch from Germany to Austria after a three-year rotation. Schützenhofer is the ninth president of the Four Hills Tournament and the fifth Austrian to hold this office. The previous presidents were Putzi Pepeunig (Innsbruck, 1952 to 1986), Hans Ostler (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1986 to 2003), Dietmar Hemerka (Innsbruck, 2003-2006), Claus-Peter Horle (Oberstdorf, 2006 to 2010), Alfons Schranz (Innsbruck, 2010 to 2015), Michael Maurer (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 2015 to 2018), Johann Pichler (Bischofshofen, 2018 to 2021) and Dr. Peter Kruijer (Oberstdorf, until 2024).

Manfred Schützenhofer has been president of the Bischofshofen Ski Club since 2021 and president of the organizing committee for the tour finale, the Dreikönigsspringen. Since the last World Cup winter at the latest, the skiing world has also known the 53-year-old as an official with nerves of steel. When an avalanche hit the outrun of the Paul Ausserleitner ski jump on December 17, 2023 and damaged the slope, the ski jumping world initially feared the worst and the tour lost its final. But after just one week, Schützenhofer gave the green light for the Epiphany competition to take place again.

“That was an absolute masterstroke on your part. When I talk to organizers about the challenges in the World Cup, I always use Bischofshofen as a prime example to show what can be achieved when everyone helps together,” said FIS Race Director Sandro Pertile at the tour's opening ceremony.