Honorary president of the 4-Hills-Tournament died at age 93

The international Ski Jumping community, first and foremost the Skiclub Partenkirchen and the partner clubs of the Four Hills Tournament, are mourning the death of honorary president and official Hans Ostler. The Four Hills Tournament veteran from Garmisch-Partenkirchen passed away at age 93.

“With Hans Ostler we lost a true legend. He was innovative all his life and  he was never satisfied with the status quo. With his passion, he played an important role in the constant development of the Four Hills Tournament and Ski Jumping in general. We owe him a lot and he will remain in our hearts as a role model“, explains Johann Pichler, president of the Four Hills Tournament, representative of the Four Hills Tournament partner clubs Skiclub Oberstdorf, Skiclub Partenkirchen, Sportclub Bergisel and Skiclub Bischofshofen.

Ostler was not only the honorary president of theFour Hills Tournament, but also of the Skiclub Partenkirchen. Starting in 1956, he helped shape the fortunes of the club for more than 40 years, first as secretary, then as treasurer and from 1980 to 1997 as chairman. “It is impossible to find the right words to describe the achievements of Hans Ostler for the ski club. Like no other, he played a decisive role in making the Skiclub Partenkirchen one of the world’s most important winter sports clubs, that produced world champions, Olympic champions and numerous German national champions. His biggest highlight has always been the New Year’s competition as part of the Four Hills Tournament. Until the end he came to the hill whenever possible. We mourn with his widow Rosl and his daughter Inge“, says Michael Maurer, chairman of the SC Partenkirchen.

Hans Ostler was part of theFour Hills Tournament since the very beginning, he even took part in the talks regarding the creation of the Tournament 1949 in Kitzbuehel, he played a part in writing the bylaws of the Four Hills Tournament and from 1954 he was responsible for calculating the results. From 1988 to 2003, Hans Ostler was in charge of the most important competition series in winter sports as the president of the Four Hills Tournament. In addition to that, the Partenkirchen native was also a Ski Jumping official, he was the technical delegate at numerous events and he worked at various World Championships as a judge and as head of the video distance measuring. As a member of the FIS Ski Jumping Committee and chairman of the Sub-Committee for judges, he influenced the development of the sport of Ski Jumping. The implementation of the video distance measuring in 1991 was one of the most important innovations that Ostler was a part of. Ostler was also a strong advocate of the wind rule.

From 1936 to 1998, Hans Ostler was working at seven Olympic Winter Games, he played a part in 20 Nordic World Ski Championships and was also one of the founders of the Olympic training center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Further voluntary positions in sports and other clubs made Ostler one of the most important persons in the social life of the “Werdenfelser Land“ and in international sports.

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