As of: March 27, 2024, 5:50 p.m
By: Luca Hartmann
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After the World Cup final in ski jumping, many female jumpers criticized being disadvantaged compared to their male colleagues.
There is a lack of viewers and TV money.
Planica – For some it went high and far, others had to stand by and watch: At the ski jumping World Cup final, the different treatment of men and women in the World Cup was once again made clear.
While the men were allowed to fly well over 200 meters all weekend on the big chance in Planica, the women had to go to the normal hill for their catch-up competition - much to the displeasure of the jumpers.
Ski jumping women criticize discrimination against men
“We are constantly told what we cannot and are not allowed to do.
There are always decisions that are incredibly difficult to understand.
Not just in terms of ski jumping, but also everything else,” said World Cup 2nd Eva Pinkelnig to the Austrian
ORF.
You feel “a bit taken aback in good German”.
“We are actually being trampled upon and have no great value.
The boys get to go ski flying and do the coolest thing in the world, and we're on the smallest ski jump.
I really have to say, this is disappointing,” said world record holder Silje Opseth, who flew 236.5 meters (fall) and 230.5 meters (world record) in the women’s ski flying event in Vikersund.
Germany's best athlete Katharina Schmid also sees a long road to equality in ski jumping.
© Geir Olsen/NTB/dpa
Women's protest because of smaller jumps and lack of competitions
However, the dissatisfaction not only relates to the lack of equal ski jumps, but also to the decisions of the International Ski Association (FIS).
Among other things, a women's jump in Vikersund was canceled due to the wind and then not rescheduled - while the men were allowed to reschedule the competition the next day and jump twice.
“In my opinion, what happened here is ridiculous,” complained former world-class ski jumper Andreas Goldberger on
ORF
shortly afterwards .
Olympic champion Martin Schmitt also showed understanding for the jumpers' protests: “I understand the dissatisfaction.
The effect is of course not good.
It is a problem that women have to fight more.
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FIS justifies cancellation of women's jumping
The FIS, on the other hand, justifies the lack of catch-up jumping due, among other things, to a lack of financial resources.
“The national ski association and the organizing committee must also be able to finance this competition and the prize money for the participants.
We would have had to get broadcast time on television and unfortunately that didn't work,” explained Chika Yoshida, FIS race director, after the canceled ski flying in Vikersund could not be rescheduled.
The missing funds can also be explained by the sometimes significantly lower number of viewers.
This winter the women jumped for the first time around the turn of the year in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
But unlike the men's event, the stadiums were not sold out long in advance.
3,500 and 3,000 fans watched the two competitions.
This is one of the reasons why the introduction of a Four Hills Tournament for women with all four stages is still pending.
Next season there will probably only be the “Two Nights Tour” with two competitions in Germany.
While some jumpers think this is a good start, ski jumping legend Sven Hannawald warns of an “alibi” event.
(LuHa/dpa)