Philipp Raimund of Germany won the gold medal in the men's normal hill ski jump at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Predazzo, Italy. The Olympic rookie outperformed a field of seasoned competitors with a best jump of 106.5 meters for 274.1 points. Poland's Kacper Tomasiak took silver, while Japan's Ren Nikaido and Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden shared bronze.
The men's normal hill ski jump competition unfolded on Monday at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in Predazzo, Italy. Entering as the world number six, Raimund, making his Olympic debut, led after the first round ahead of France's Valentin Foubert and Norway's Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal.
The final round proved decisive. Nikaido jumped 106.5 meters, followed by Deschwanden and Tomasiak, both reaching 107 meters. Foubert and Sundal failed to surpass those distances. As the last jumper, Raimund delivered a strong effort, earning high marks for style and securing victory over the two other rookies and Deschwanden, a veteran in his fourth Olympics.
Deschwanden's previous best finishes included eighth in the 2022 Beijing large hill team event and sixth at the 2023 world championships in the same discipline. The medalists defeated prominent figures such as Japan's defending Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi, Norway's reigning world champion Marius Lindvik, Germany's two-time Olympic gold medalist Andreas Wellinger, Poland's three-time Olympic gold medalist Kamil Stoch, and Slovenia's Domen Prevc, the defending large hill world champion and current World Cup leader.
Prevc finished sixth with a final jump of 105 meters. The normal hill is not his strongest event, though he aims to compete alongside his sister Nika Prevc in the mixed team event. Nika Prevc, the defending world champion on both hills and World Cup leader, earned silver in the women's normal hill competition on Saturday.
