Bhe ski jumping is getting exciting every weekend. How many jumpers face the competition? For the World Cup competition in Titisee-Neustadt, the first after the Four Hills Tournament, there were only 50 athletes. A qualification competition became superfluous. “The qualification preceding the competition serves to reduce the number of starters,” says the statutes of the international FIS ski federation.
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A week later, 56 jumpers were registered in Zakopane, 53 in Lahti, and 59 athletes for the weekend on the Mühlkopfschanze in Willingen. Before the world championships (February 23 to March 7) in Oberstdorf, the athletes want to gain competition experience.
For a few years now, the Fis has been struggling with the fact that the fields of participants are getting smaller and smaller. Even at the prestigious Four Hills Tournament, where 80 to 90 jumpers took part in the past, this time only 62 athletes were in the qualifications – with the same number of participating nations. Small nations like the Czech Republic or France are sometimes there, sometimes not. Years ago, a quota of six jumpers per team was introduced so that jumpers from as many countries as possible – and not just those from the strong top nations – qualify for the competition. There are many reasons for the opposite development.
A material battle is raging
The decisive one: A material battle rages in ski jumping. The big ski jumping nations like Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland and Japan are constantly trying to outdo each other. “We put a lot of effort into”, says national coach Stefan Horngacher, “we are constantly testing the material.” The FIS ski jumping race director Sandro Pertile reports that jumpers from these countries wear a new suit every weekend.
One costs 480 euros. “You could limit the number of suits,” says Pertile. Norway’s head coach Alexander Stöckl is skeptical whether the implementation will work: “A change in the regulations is rather difficult.” There is a striking parallel to Formula 1: There, too, the financially strong teams like Mercedes and Ferrari resist changes that lead to a larger one Power density in competition.
Pertile’s predecessor Walter Hofer wanted to make ski jumping a world sport. He therefore advocated the construction of ski jumps, for example in Erzurum in Turkey. But the project did not have to offer more than a few second-rate Continental Cup competitions and the one-off appearance of Fatih Arda Ipcioglu on the 2017/18 tour and his subsequent start at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. The Bulgarian Wladimir Sografski tries more badly than right as a solo entertainer. A ski jumping culture cannot be developed quickly.
“Ski jumping is a very complex sport”
The fact that ski jumps will also be built in China for the winter games in Beijing in a year’s time doesn’t make Pertile more confident, despite the great potential in the Middle Kingdom. “Ski jumping is a very complex sport in which it is not possible to get to the top of the world in a very short time,” says the FIS official. According to Pertiles after his visits to Beijing, this staying power does not correspond to the Chinese mentality.
Horst Hüttel, ski jumping team manager in the German Ski Association and member of various FIS committees, prefers a different approach. “We have to further strengthen the FIS youth camps,” he demands. The early comparison with peers not only promotes ambition, but inevitably increases the level. But from the previous six competitions, two remain, in Hinterzarten and Lahti. “With these competitions without prize money and TV production, there are hardly any costs for the organizers,” says Hüttel. However, the medium to long-term benefits are enormous.
“It is important that the performance of the athletes from the small nations improves,” says ski jumping race director Pertile. That is why both he and Hüttel see the sending of trainers as development workers as an opportunity to raise the level in the small nations. “Russia still benefits from the structures that Wolfgang Steiert introduced,” says Hüttel. The former coach of Martin Schmitt and Sven Hannawald was the head coach of the Russians from 2005 to 2010.
Cooperations can also help. The Estonian Artti Aigro trains together with the Finnish team. At the same time, Pertile wants to compete in more countries with its World Cup. “We have to be present in Japan, the USA and Russia, but also in Europe in France, Italy and the Czech Republic,” says Pertile. Even if this is at the expense of jumping in Germany and Austria. Italians want to dedicate themselves to this task in March. But first he has to bring this season to a good end. With as many jumpers as possible.
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