Meet the high-flying Daniel Tschofenig, ski-jumping's newest superstar

Daniel Tschofenig: I realised straight away after Stefan Kraft's last jump that it wasn't going to work out for him and that I had won the Four Hills Tournament, but I didn't really realise what I had achieved or how important the success was! There are so many emotions, impressions and thousands of fans cheering you on in the moment. I was completely overwhelmed at that point. Gradually, you can then work out for yourself what you've achieved with your performance. I realised that I had fulfilled a childhood dream. I quickly realised that I wanted more and that this success was a powerful incentive to continue ski jumping at this level.

I wasn't fully fit over the summer and had to battle with injuries. I didn't even have 100 jumps under my belt by the end of the summer, but I felt quite good in the summer competition. Nobody expected anything from me because I hadn't had that much training yet, but that helped me in the competition, I concentrated on myself and my jump, without any pressure to succeed. We took another good step in the autumn, also in terms of equipment. I tried to make my jump "effective". I practised the individual sequences of the jump and only concentrated on the approach, take-off or flight phase. It wasn't until Lillehammer that we put all the individual parts together. With this set-up, I started the winter with confidence and have been able to build up my self-confidence through good performances.

With a lot of self-confidence, you no longer think about whether the technique is right and the jump works. In ski jumping, a lot happens in your head. If your confidence is right, you have the feeling that everything will work out and you get into a flow state. You no longer think about it, you just let it happen and your body calls on the automatic things you've trained. With self-confidence and mental strength, you can tease out the last few percent as an athlete. That's why I've been working with a mental coach for about three years, because the mental component is extremely important in ski jumping.

Mentally, it was an advantage that the two Engelberg competitions were before Christmas. It went really well for me with second place and victory in the last competition. To be honest, though, I wasn't really aware that these were the last two competitions before the Four Hills Tournament and that they'd mark me out as favourite. I had it in my head that these were the last competitions before Christmas. That certainly helped me to take the pressure off myself and stay relaxed. My motto was: just get stuck in and enjoy it! The Four Hills Tournament is a very special event with its own rules. If I go into the opening jump with the mindset of putting all my eggs in one basket, it can backfire very quickly. That's how you take away the relaxation and the fun of showing your best ski jumping in front of tens of thousands of fans.

The Four Hills Tournament actually got off to a great start for me. The trial jump in Oberstdorf was OK, but I was in third place. That showed me that I'm fully on board. I dominated the qualification and then I was only seventh after the first jump, 11 points behind. I thought to myself in the finish area that the tour was almost over, but I pulled off a really brilliant jump in the second round and made it onto the podium in third place. In Garmisch I felt I could do anything I wanted, every jump worked - even in the competition. With the victory, anything was possible.

I didn't even realise that she would make it to Bischofshofen. She had a competition in Villach that day and then came straight to the Paul Ausserleitner ski jump. It was a great surprise and we met briefly between the two rounds. The moment it was confirmed that I'd won the Four Hills Tournament, she threw her arms around my neck. It felt so good because she was 100 percent happy for me and celebrated the biggest success of my career with me. I was super happy, but of course I sympathised with my team-mates. It was a very special situation.

Dealing with pressure situations, successes and failures and keeping the fun in jumping, even though there's a lot at stake. I've learned a lot over the past few weeks and can definitely take a lot with me for my future career, which will help me to be able to perform at my best on day X, especially at the next major events such as the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim.