In 1969, Norwegian Bjørn Wirkola became the first person to win the Four Hills Tournament three times in a row. He was the fifth athlete to win the first three events, but yet again the 'Grand Slam' was denied, this time by Wirkola's closest rival Jiří Raška. It was a disappointing tournament for the two host nations with the best athlete from either being Reinhold Bachler, finishing 11th overall.
Participating nations and athletes
For the first time in seven years, no non-European nations participated. The national groups of Germany and Austria only competed at the two events in their respective countries.
Nation Number of Athletes Athletes 5 (+5) Franz Bisle, Günther Göllner, Walter Lampe, Henrik Ohlmayr, Oswald SchinzeNational Group: Alfred Grosche, Friedhelm Klapproth, Ralph Pöhland, Sepp Schwinghammer, Alfred Winkler 11 (+3) Reinhold Bachler, Helmut Diess, Max Golser, Albert Haim, Ernst Kröll, Sepp Lichtenegger, Franz Salhofer, Willi Schuster, Erich Schwabl, Walter Schwabl, Janko ZwitterNational Group: Heinz Jölly, Franz Kuchlbacher, Ernst Wimmer Czechoslovakia 7 Ladislav Divila, Rudolf Höhnl, Zbyněk Hubač, Karel Kodejška, Jan Matouš, Jiří Raška, František Rydval 7 Bernd Karwofski, Horst Queck, Manfred Queck, Heinz Schmidt, Rainer Schmidt, Wilfried Schüller, Clemens Walter 3 Keijo Leiho, Topi Mattila, Juhani Ruotsalainen 4 Jannie Arnould, Nicolas Gaide, Alain Macle, Gilbert Poirot 3 László Gellér, Mihály Gellér, János Taffener 3 Giacomo Aimoni, Albino Bazana, Mario Ceccon 3 Lars Grini, Knut Kongsgård, Jan Olaf Roaldset, Bent Tomtum, Bjørn Wirkola 2 Andrej Sztolf, Ryszard Witke Soviet Union 5 Vladimir Belousov, Aleksandr Ivannikov, Gariy Napalkov, Wiezeslav Zerbakov, Anatoliy Zheglanov 3 Torbjörn Hedberg, Thord Karlsson, Olle Martinsson 4 Richard Pfiffner, Hans Schmid, Heribert Schmid, Urs Schönl, Sepp Zehnder 6 Vinko Bogataj, Branko Dolhar, Janez Jurman, Marjan Mesec, Peter Štefančič, Ludvik Zajc
Results
Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze, Oberstdorf 29 December 1968
Rank Name Points1 Bjørn Wirkola218.72 Jiří Raška215.73 Josef Matouš210.54 Heinz Schmidt210.15 Manfred Queck209.96 Rudolf Höhnl205.47 Ladislav Divila199.98 Vladimir Belousov199.79 Reinhold Bachler199.3 Ludvik Zajc199.3
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1 January 1969
Rank Name Points1 Bjørn Wirkola241.22 Anatoliy Zheglanov235.43 František Rydval233.84 Vladimir Belousov233.65 Heinz Schmidt232.36 Zbyněk Hubač228.47 Ladislav Divila226.58 Gariy Napalkov222.19 Horst Queck221.810 Lars Grini221.2
Innsbruck Bergiselschanze, Innsbruck 4 December 1969
Rank Name Points1 Bjørn Wirkola236.32 Jiří Raška235.53 Anatoliy Zheglanov225.94 Lars Grini222.65 Zbyněk Hubač219.96 Rudolf Höhnl214.17 František Rydval212.48 Horst Queck212.29 Gariy Napalkov210.810 Heinz Schmidt209.7
Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze, Bischofshofen 5 January 1969
Rank Name Points1 Jiří Raška234.72 Bjørn Wirkola228.33 Lars Grini222.64 Anatoliy Zheglanov219.25 Zbyněk Hubač218.86 Wiezeslav Zerbakov211.47 Ladislav Divila211.08 František Rydval209.99 Vladimir Belousov208.110 Bent Tomtum207.0
Final ranking
Rank Name Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Points1 Bjørn Wirkola1st1st1st2nd924.52 Jiří Raška2nd21st2nd1st900.53 Zbyněk Hubač11th6th5th5th866.04 Anatoliy Zheglanov23rd2nd3rd4th862.05 František Rydval14th3rd7th8th848.26 Vladimir Belousov8th4th19th9th839.37 Rudolf Höhnl6th15th6th14th838.38 Heinz Schmidt4th5th10th30th830.89 Lars Grini59th10th4th3rd812.510 Ladislav Divila7th7th41st7th810.8
References
External links FIS website Four Hills Tournament web site