The 22-year-old finished 10th on the large hill at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang but is now leading the overall World Cup standings with four wins already this season.

The Japanese skier’s latest victory came in the Swiss resort of Engelberg last time out, while he also has two third place finishes to his name this year.

It all means that as things stand, going into the latest event the young jumper leads the way with 556 points.

Second and third place overall are currently held by two Poles: Piotr Zyla and Kamil Stoch, who will each be looking to close the gap in Germany.

His brilliant recent form though, means Kobayashi enters as favourite.

There is no women’s event is taking place in Oberstdorf.

he first round of World Cup action will start tomorrow at 4:30pm local time, with Oberstdorf the first stop of the annual Four Hills Tournament, featuring four World Cup contests back to back across Germany and Austria. 

The second event will take place in Garmisch Partenkirchen in Germany on New Year’s Day, before it moves to Innsbruck in Austria on January 3 and 4 and then Bischofshofen on January 5 and 6.

The contest has taken place every year since 1953 and is considered one of the biggest events on the ski jumping calendar.

It was first created by German ski jumpers banned from International competition as a result of the Second World War.

International athletes took part for the first time in 1949, though the first event of what is now recognised as the Four Hills Tournament went ahead in 1953.

Acting as new sponsors for this year’s event are Liqui Moly and Hörmann, who join Veltins and Bauhaus.

The partners will all benefit from advertising opportunities in prime locations at the event, with last year’s competition culminating in a cumulative audience of around 75 million on television.