Former ski jumping star about Kobayashi
Hannawald: “In my eyes the record is official”
12/25/2024 – 5:08 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Sven Hannawald is the last German tour winner. He is still connected to ski jumping as a TV expert. One record from this year particularly fascinates him.
When German ski jumping fans hear the name Sven Hannawald, they think of glorious times. To date, the 50-year-old is the last German tour winner. In 2002 he was able to celebrate after his successes on all four ski jumps. Hannawald is still deeply connected to his sport and appears regularly on ARD with presenter Lea Wagner. He has also been closely monitoring developments this year – and is enthusiastic about Ryōyū Kobayashi.
The Japanese was crowned tour winner for the third time at the beginning of the year. The 28-year-old also achieved something that no ski jumper before him has achieved. He almost cracked the 300 meter mark and flew 291 meters on a makeshift ski jump. Kobayashi developed the project with his sponsor Red Bull. However, the incredible jump (read more about the 291-meter jump here) is not considered a world record because the conditions were irregular and unofficial and the distance cannot be achieved in a World Cup competition was, as usual. However, Sven Hannawald sees things differently, as he revealed in an interview with the Austrian “Kronen Zeitung”.
“In my opinion, the record is official. World records are not just on the result lists of competitions where you can apply,” said Hannawald clearly. The 2002 Olympic team champion also added: “Ryōyū flew there, the conditions were comparable to a World Cup ski jump. Until now, it was the case that you couldn’t fly further than 253.5 meters because there was no larger jump .”
Hannawald therefore made it clear: “In the end, we are talking about a normal hill record in Vikersund. For me it is simply clear: world records are not an FIS competition.”
Hannawald knows how hard ski jumpers work to achieve such distances and to deliver consistent performance. He ended his career in 2005 due to burnout syndrome. When he looks back on his step, he now says: “I had to learn to separate things better and not take everything into my private life.” Now he is cheering on the active athletes like Ryōyū Kobayashi and the German team from the expert table.