Milestone in ski jumping: first women’s flying in World Cup history

The “Raw Air” series in Norway will be something very special for the ski jumpers: For the first time, a World Cup will take place on the ski flying hill.

The Monster Bakken is waiting! For the first time, two World Cup ski flying competitions for the world’s best female ski jumpers are taking place on the gigantic ski jumping hill in Vikersund. The 15 best athletes in the overall World Cup are eligible to start, plus five athletes from the top 15 of the current “Raw Air” tour have the chance to take part – what counts is the standing after the two competitions in Trondheim and Oslo.

It’s also about the Schmid family record

According to the current status, Katharina Schmid is the only German who has already qualified. She also holds the German record in ski flying, but the ski jumping world champion is really keen on the family record. Her brother-in-law Julian Schmid once flew 205 meters, but so far she has “only” managed 198.5 m. “I still have the Schmid record – but it could now be shaky”said the Nordic Combined World Cup runner-up.

Because something historic is happening in women’s ski jumping: The ten-day raw air tour begins in Norway on Friday (8 p.m. in the live stream at sportschau.de) and will conclude with the first women’s flying in World Cup history. Another real highlight awaits record world champion Schmid in Vikersund, who is considering ending her career after the season. “II want to do at least the 200 m. That is my biggest goal this season” says the 27-year-old.

Another step towards “jump equality”

A year ago, Schmid, who was still called Althaus at the time, was allowed to start at the Monster Bakken together with the best jumpers in the world with the blessing of the world association FIS. But there weren’t any points back then, things are different now. .

Schmid and Co. are taking a further step towards the often invoked one “Schull Equality”. It was a long battle until then. “In the marathon, it was initially said: This isn’t possible for women, the lungs and heart can’t stand it. Then a woman just did it – and it worked,” said overall World Cup winner Eva Pinkelnig from Austria once: “So: let’s fly.”

Ema Klinec holds the world record

But there are still warnings. “As long as you fly safely and land without falling, everything is wonderful.”says Toni Innauer. According to the former world champion, however “The fall event is systematically hidden“. This means: Since women ski fly at significantly higher starting speeds than men, they would impact differently in the event of a fall. The consequences? Uncertain.

Last year everything went well in Vikersund, the Slovenian Ema Klinec set the world record that is still valid today with 226.0 meters. “It’s a completely different feeling when you’re in the air for a few seconds longer”says Schmid looking back. It should still have been one and a half meters more: “200 meters, that gives an extra kick.”

FIS banned Schmid from “flying in”

Schmid still has to carry out her bouquets with the FIS in 2024. When she wanted to take part in the ultimately canceled “fly-in” of the ski jump at the end of February before the men’s World Cup in Oberstdorf, the world association lowered its thumb. Her brother-in-law Julian Schmid would have been allowed to start as a combiner. And: There won’t be a women’s ski flying world championship for the time being either. So Schmid and Co. are still a long way from reaching their goal.

The German squad