Heavy falls
Shortly before the Olympics: drama on the hill
Updated on September 24, 2025 – 8:11 p.m.Reading time: 5 min.
Last weekend, three athletes fell on the Olympic hill. The International Ski Association is under pressure – changes are probably essential.
September 18, 2025: The Austrian Eva Pinkelnig wants to land at the Summer Grand Prix on the Olympic Normals hill in Val di Fiemme when her left knee gives way. The experienced ski jumper falls, screams and keeps her knee while she slides down the ski jump.
Peenig suffered a tear of the front cruciate ligament, injuries to the inner and outer meniscus and cartilage damage. The 37-year-old was not alone with this fate on one of the Olympic ski jumps in Predazzo. Exactly a day later, Canadian Alexandria Loutitt met on the Großchanze. The partner of ski jumping star Daniel Tschofenig also fell and suffered a knee injury. Just like the Nordic combined Haruka Kasai on the normal hill. The Japanese woman now also fails because of a cruciate ligament tear.
A weekend, an Olympic facility, three suffering athletes and the questions: What was it and what can be done about it? In addition to the converted ski jumps, on which the Olympic competitions are to take place in the coming year, the focus is also on the suits of the athletes. The International Ski Association FIS gets under pressure. Changes must be discussed.
Horst Hüttel, sports director World Cup for the ski jump and the Nordic combination at the DSV, says T-Online: “I believe that the topic is very complex. The fact is that it is extremely tragic for the athletes and ski jumping. All those responsible, primarily the FIS, are required to illuminate the whole topic intensively.” Because the events cannot be determined by one reason, rather there are several causes and approaches.
Already after the summer grand prix, the Austrian Chiara Kreuzer on ORF called a possible cause of the numerous accidents: “Even if we always fight for equality, I think you should take a step back that we are slowed down and we come to land more harmoniously.”
What she means: The suits of women, like those of the men, have been very tight since summer. After the manipulation scandal of the Norwegian men at the beginning of the year, the International Ski Association made regular changes to prevent new fraud. “The approach is correct. Especially with the person Mathias Hafele,” emphasizes Horst Hüttel at T-Online. Hafele is the new FIS material boss. Hüttel explains: “You have not yet had any experience of how the closer suit affects. The fact is that the closer suits increase the flight speed and thereby also develop a higher land pressure when you get to land at a higher speed.”