During the Four Hills Tournament
“It’s a bit scary”: Ski jumper reveals problems
01/01/2025 – 3:46 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
At the start of the tour in Oberstdorf, the Norwegian Johann André Forfang jumped to fifth place. And that even though he’s actually not feeling well.
Ski jumping star Johann André Forfang complains of severe back pain. Before the second competition at the Four Hills Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Norwegian told the local TV station NRK: “It’s a bit scary. I go to bed and keep my fingers crossed every night that I’ll be fine again the next morning.”
He has had the problems since the summer and Forfang also knows the cause, he explained. “A bulging disc causes the pain.” When a disc bulges, the disc between the vertebrae protrudes, causing the condition. “I feel it very much, but try not to pay too much attention to it,” Forfang explained to NRK. It was very unpleasant during the qualification on New Year’s Eve.
It’s not necessarily the jump that hurts, but other movements that are part of the process of the competition. “The thing that hurts the most is tying the shoe and putting the binding on,” said the 29-year-old.
After all: Forfang’s pain is hardly noticeable. While he is twelfth in the overall ranking of the World Cup season so far, he jumped to fifth place at the start in Oberstdorf. And Forfang also knew how to impress in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, landing in seventh place with two good jumps.
There was also special praise from ARD expert Sven Hannawald because Forfang stands out among the otherwise weak Norwegians. “It’s just the fact that Forfang has realized that he has to change his jump, that he has to approach it a little more sensitively,” explained Hannawald in the first round and added: “He implements it very hard, and whether that Downwind, sideways or upwind, he stays with himself and it works.” Even with back pain.