The meetings of the International Ski Federation's Ski Jumping Committee may not be the most exciting moments of my professional career, but they are certainly among the most important. Twice a year, the highest body in this sport gathers to discuss proposals drafted by various sub-committees and to…
In Costa Navarino in Greece, this morning there was lively discussion, especially on the topic of women's ski jumping. A rule point was to be struck from the regulations, which stated that women could only jump on hills with a maximum Hill Size of 118. (There have been and were exceptions allowed). If this paragraph were removed, women would be equal to men and could – in theory – also ski-fly!
Two standpoints emerged. On one side, it was argued that on large hills there would be a massive performance gap and, in the end, the product would suffer.
On the other hand, athlete spokeswoman Sarah Hendrickson (USA) presented a survey result that was significant: 93% of female ski jumpers would support more jumping on large hills. She was backed by Norwegian Bertil Palsrud, who saw removing the restriction as inevitable for the continued development of women's jumping.
Discussions, discussions, discussions – the bottom line is positive for the “Ladies Ski Jumpers”: they will be seen more often on the large hills this coming winter than ever before!
What impressed me most was the presentation of the 2023 World Championship candidate, Trondheim. The Norwegians had arrived with their most famous daughter; cross-country skiing star Marit Bjørgen gave a speech that was both emotional and factual, and in the video, superstars like Elena Välbe (RUS), Bjoern Daehli, or Kjetil-Andre Aamodt (all NOR) spoke in favor of Trondheim. Just as Crown Prince Haakon-Magnus did. I am still inspired by what was shown. If it were up to me, there would be no need to wait until Thursday and immediately award the World Championship to the Norwegians…
In the afternoon, Peter Riedel GmbH had the honor of opening the meeting with a presentation of our products. In the shown Image Film ski jumping experts such as Ernst Vettori, Heinz Kuttin or superstar Stefan Kraft speak, and the few minutes were very well received by those present, as the applause at the end demonstrated. It is a pleasure to be at the FIS Congress, and even more so when I can speak about what I love to do best: building ski jumping approach tracks and integrating these anchors into hill complexes.