1959–60 Four Hills Tournament

Ski jumping competition Four Hills Tournament Ski jumping pictogram.svg Schattenbergschanze, Große Olympiaschanze, Bergiselschanze, Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze Germany, Austria 1959 12 30 y – 1960 1 6 y 46 8 GER Max Bolkart AUT Alwin Plank AUT Otto Leodolter 1958-59 1960-61 The eighth annual Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria was influenced by the German flag controversy, which led to the teams of the Warsaw Pact zone withdrawing from the tournament. In addition, Finland and Norway decided not to compete due to preparations for the upcoming 1960 Winter Olympics. Finland ultimately sent prospective athletes. The tournament was instead dominated by the host country and for the first time, the Four Hills were won by a West German ski jumper, Max Bolkart. German Flag Controversy For ten years after its declared independence, the German Democratic Republic continued to use the German tricolour for official use. In October 1959, they finally adapted a distinctive flag, the East German coat of arms in front of the tricolour. The Four Hills tournament starting in December 1959 was one of the first sporting events on West German ground where East German athletes were supposed to compete under the new flag. However, it was prohibited to display the new East German flag under West German law and the hosts refused to do so in Oberstdorf. The strong East German delegation including defending champion Helmut Recknagel refused to compete under the circumstances and withdrew. Teams of countries that accepted East Germany as a sovereign nation and thus their flag, withdrew in solidarity (Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union). Originally, it was announced that they would compete at the two events in Austria. Austria, however, did not yet have diplomatic relations with the GDR and it was left to the local government to deal with the situation. Innsbruck mayor Alois Lugger decided not to display the East German flag either. Although he offered compromises, such as the use of the Olympic German flag or using no flags at all, the Warsaw Pact teams declared their withdrawal on the day of the Innsbruck event and left the day after. Arbeiter-Zeitung Flaggenstreit beim Innsbrucker Skispringen 1960 http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19600105_A01;html=1 German Participating nations and athletes Many notable absences include the teams from East Germany, the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway and the top athletes from Finland. A French team, however, competed at the Four Hills for the first time. Nation Number of Athletes Athletes 13 Hermann Anwander, Helmut Böck, Max Bolkart, Rudi Duffke, Alois Haberstock, Wolfgang Happle, Heini Ihle, Helmut Kurz, Georg Thoma, Helmut Wegscheider, Hubert Witting, Heinrich Zapf, Axel Zerlaut 14 Willi Egger, Klaus Fichtner, Walter Habersatter, Waldemar Heigenhauser, Willi Köstinger, Ernst Kröll, Lois Leodolter, Otto Leodolter, Peter Müller, Alwin Plank, Baldur Preiml, Rudi Schweinberger, Walter Steinegger, Ferdl Wallner CAN 1957 Canada 3 Jacques Charland, Gerry Gravelle, Luis Moser 2 Timo Kavelä, Markku Maatela 2 Claude Jean-Prost, Robert Rey 4 Lars-Åke Bergseije, Holger Karlsson, Inger Lindquist, Folke Mikaelsson 3 Andreas Däscher, Ueli Scheidegger, Peter Wenger 5 Božo Jemc, Jože Langus, Miro Oman, Marjan Pečar, Jože Šlibar Results Oberstdorf GER Schattenbergschanze, Oberstdorf 30 December 1959FIS Oberstdorf (GER) https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=JP&raceid=877 Rank Name Points1GER Max Bolkart220.52AUT Alwin Plank219.53GER Helmut Kurz219.04AUT Willi Egger217.0SWE Holger Karlsson217.06GER Hermann Anwander215.57AUT Walter Habersatter214.58AUT Otto Leodolter212.59SWE Folke Mikaelsson212.0GER Georg Thoma212.0 Garmisch-Partenkirchen GER Große Olympiaschanze, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1 January 1960FIS Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=JP&raceid=878 With his ninth place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Jacques Charland became the first non-European with a Top-Ten-finish at a Four Hills event. Rank Name Points1GER Max Bolkart216.92FIN Timo Kivelä216.53YUG Jože Šlibar212.74SWE Inger Lindquist212.65GER Georg Thoma212.56YUG Božo Jemc212.17AUT Alwin Plank211.28FIN Markku Maatela210.89CAN 1957 Jacques Charland210.410AUT Willi Egger209.8 Innsbruck AUT Bergiselschanze, Innsbruck 3 January 1960FIS Innsbruck (AUT) https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=JP&raceid=879 Thanks to close results so far, the overall ranking was still closely contested after the first two events. In Innsbruck however, Max Bolkart increased his lead to almost twenty points after a third, clearer victory. Curiously, three out of four Swedish competitors shared 21st place, equal in points (198.5). Rank Name Points1GER Max Bolkart229.52AUT Otto Leodolter225.53AUT Alwin Plank216.54SWE Folke Mikaelsson215.55GER Georg Thoma214.56FIN Timo Kivelä213.07AUT Willi Egger212.08YUG Božo Jemc211.5AUT Walter Steinegger211.510FIN Markku Maatela211.0 Bischofshofen AUT Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze, Bischofshofen 6 January 1959FIS Bischofshofen (AUT) https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=JP&raceid=880 Max Bolkart was the third athlete within seven years to win the first three events but fail to achieve the 'Grand Slam' in Bischofshofen. He still became the first West German to win the tournament however, as Alwin Plank almost, but not quite closed the gap in the overall ranking. The Austrians achieved their first triple victory, a feat that only the Finnish had produced so far (twice in 1954–55). Rank Name Points1AUT Alwin Plank227.52AUT Otto Leodolter224.73AUT Willi Egger221.74GER Helmut Kurz216.05GER Max Bolkart211.1CAN 1957 Jacques Charland211.17AUT Walter Steinegger210.88GER Wolfgang Happle209.89YUG Jože Šlibar208.910FIN Timo Kivelä204.3 Final ranking Rank Name Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Points1GER Max Bolkart1st1st1st5th878.02AUT Alwin Plank2nd7th3rd1st874.73AUT Otto Leodolter8th11th2nd2nd870.64AUT Willi Egger4th10th7th3rd860.55GER Helmut Kurz3rd12th14th4th849.06FIN Timo Kivelä11th2nd6th10th845.37GER Georg Thoma9th5th5th14th839.28AUT Walter Steinegger23rd14th8th7th826.89GER Hermann Anwander6th20th15th11th825.710GER Wolfgang Happle19th27th17th8th808.7 References External links FIS website Four Hills Tournament web site Category:Four Hills Tournament Category:1959 in ski jumping Category:1960 in ski jumping