Women’s tour becomes a flop – “bitter” reward polarizes

Empty seats and shower cream

Women’s ski jumping tour turns into a flop

The ski jumpers imagined it differently. In Garmisch they reached less than a third of the number of spectators for the men’s qualifying. The schedule doesn’t seem particularly well developed so far.

Sven Hannawald seemed quite irritated. When the German ski jumping legend heard about the almost humiliating women’s bonus in the first qualification for the Two-Nights Tour, he tried a joke.

“You almost have to see what you can get for it on Ebay. That’s bitter,” said 50-year-old Hannawald. Selina Friday had previously said that she did not receive 3,000 Swiss francs (around 3,200 euros) like the men for her qualifying victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but rather shower cream, shampoo and four towels.

The small gift was a bit reminiscent of 1989, when Germany’s footballers were given a coffee service for winning the European Championship. It also symbolized the second edition of the new mini-tour, which will soon become a Four Hills Tournament for women. From Oberstdorf to Bischofshofen: After 73 editions of the prestigious men’s tour, women finally want their equality.

However, the two-night tour wasn’t really an advertisement for this. This was neither due to the sporting level nor the difference in prize money, but more to the public interest. The newly created event around the turn of the year received little media attention – despite the live broadcasts on ARD and Eurosport. And the number of spectators in the huge stadiums lags far behind that of men.

This was particularly dramatic on New Year’s Eve. 10,000 fans watched the qualification of Pius Paschke’s jumpers in the afternoon. An hour later, Katharina Schmid and Co. only had 3,000 followers. “There are still a few spectators who stayed there. We’ll take what we can get,” said Freitag.

In the overall ranking of the Two-Nights Tour, Schmid and Freitag took third and fourth place. The Slovenian Nika Prevc won both competitions confidently. At 3,200 fans in the Allgäu, the audience was only slightly larger than the day before.

The organizers used loudspeaker announcements and a happy hour on New Year’s Eve to encourage people not to leave too quickly after the men’s qualifying. The long break after qualifying proved to be problematic – especially given the cold when the sun had disappeared. “Hopefully we will try to make the overall product even tighter,” said sports director Horst Hüttel.

Hannawald, who is generally a big supporter of a tour for women, was particularly annoyed by the lack of appreciation that became apparent after qualification in the form of prize money replacement.

“Of course that’s not worthy of a two-night tour. I don’t know why they allow something like that,” said the last German tour winner to date on ARD. National coach Heinz Kuttin also demanded: “A step would be necessary when it comes to money.”

For Schmid, Germany’s best and most successful jumper, the introduction of a tour, which has been announced for years, is gradually becoming a race against time. “Well, I’m 28 now, I got married last year and it’s already clear to me that – when I stop – I want to plan a family,” said the Oberstdorf resident.

“I will then discuss it with my husband after the season.” Schmid, formerly Althaus, has been one of the most aggressive advocates of equal rights on the ski jumps around the world for years. She probably didn’t like the pictures of the many empty stands on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.