As in many sports, it is the details that determine who achieves the best results in ski jumping. Airfoil, catching the air with your body and flying on it instead of through it, is central. Where and how the jumpers hold their arms is therefore important.
One detail in jumping that Frida Westman has changed for this season is the hands. She says that before – when she held her palms up – she had problems with one arm coming out too far from the body. After the change, her position has become more stable.
The 25-year-old says that she got good answers during tests in a wind tunnel in Bromma.
– I can feel the air a little more, like I receive the air more.
In training, the athletes can focus on different parts but during competition the whole must fit. Frida Westman says with a smile that it is almost frustrating how fast it goes on the ramp, that there is no time to think.
A key factor is the outlet.
– You have to get a clean push, downward force, to be able to jump up while having a forward movement. One must push from a balance point in the middle of the foot; if you press toe the skis will drop.
Some correction can be done in the air but the jumpers don’t want to move too much as it results in points being deducted – and a messy jump often means a shorter jump.
– I have worked a lot on the flight, on having the skis under me from the jump and then keeping myself fully tense until I have to land.
Ski jumping skis are sturdy things. When Westman angles his ankles to get his 2.22m skis straight under him, it’s heavy and straining on the knees, but necessary.
– If you have your skis out too much, you have nothing to fly on.
When Frida Westman in November 2022 was third in the World Cup competition in Wisla, it was the first time a Swedish ski jumper stood on the podium in 30 years. But something happened on the last landing in Poland, a meniscus in the right knee turned out to be damaged. In September 2023, the accident happened again: a third cruciate ligament injury.
She did not want to give up the feeling of being able to fly far, but chose to hurry slowly and missed two World Cup winters.
– It’s not a nice feeling when you’re not really there, physically maybe but not in terms of performance, and then I don’t get so attached to being there either. I lacked the security of competition.
She chose to compete in last year’s WC, on her home ground in Trondheim. The competitions were a plus for motivation, a first sign that she was on the right path, but the emotions were mixed with the knowledge that she has so much more to give but couldn’t show it.
A couple of ninth places in the World Cup are the best results so far this season, but the goal during the rehab period was always the Olympics – and the dream of a medal.
Nuh his Italian female jumpers make their big hill debut in the Olympic context. Frida Westman remembers her very first jump on a big hill.
– I was quite nervous, but you kind of just have to do it.
She laughs.
– That’s how I also felt before the first winter jumps on snow in Lillehammer (in November). I usually tell myself that I know what to do, that I’ve done it so many times. And then I usually use the nervousness to become more sharp. When I get nervous, I also know that then I will be determined.
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