The first official women’s ski flying event on March 19 of this year made waves. Supporters eagerly awaited this historic moment, critics such as ex-“ZDF” expert Toni Innauer warned of the great dangers to the last. A study from Norway now contradicts precisely these critics.
“We showed that we can ski fly and the critical voices were wrong,” summed up DSV athlete Selina Freitag after the ski flying premiere on behalf of the 15 participants.
A lot has happened in the two months since the historic day: Ski flying has now received World Cup status, having previously only been part of the Raw Air Tour. In Vikersund, the number of competitions has also been increased from one to two.
The critical voices that have always accompanied the developments have not died down completely, but have become noticeably quieter. A scientific study has now provided new insights into the debate.
dr Ola Elfmark from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) asked whether ski flying is more dangerous for women than men and gave a clear answer: “Ski flying is dangerous for everyone, but it has nothing to do with gender to do.”
The data from Vikersund, which the ski jumping aerodynamicist evaluated, “does not provide any scientific evidence that the risk of injury is greater for women than for men” and thus refutes concerns such as the former “ZDF” expert Toni Innauer in the past Sommer had expressed in an open letter to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).
Norway’s record holder Maren Lundby was correspondingly positive in an interview with sport.de: “It’s great that science is dealing with it and showing how things really are.” Teammate Anna Odine Strøm agreed: “It confirms what we already knew after the competition.”
Neither the size of the hill nor the jump distance represent a greater danger – what’s more: Both contribute to the fact that the differences between women and men are smaller than on smaller hills. “The athletes have performed at a high level, with a few attempts where the run-up speeds were in ranges that the men were previously at,” said Elfmark.
Overall World Cup winner Pinkelnig: “It will get even better on smaller hills”
The highest run-up speed measured in the 90 women’s flights was 103.7 km/h – just as much as Marius Lindvik in one of his flights to the ski flying world championship title on the same hill a year earlier.
Because the take-off force on flying hills is not as relevant as on smaller hills, the scientist predicts that women’s run-up speeds will approach those of men the more experience they gain on flying hills.
“I am firmly convinced that this valuable knowledge can only help our sport. With this experience and knowledge, we will also become even better on smaller hills. Especially the younger athletes like Alexandria Loutitt (large hill world champion in Planica and former world record holder with 225 meters, editor’s note) will make even greater development steps,” said overall World Cup winner Eva Pinkelnig in the conversation sport.de out of.
The first course has already been set: the Slovenian association submitted an application to the FIS to host the first ski flying world championships for women in 2028. “I would love to try this hill,” said Lundby meaningfully.
Strøm even went one better: “I want to test all the ski flying hills to find out which one is the coolest!” The signs that this will happen are better than ever.
Luis Holuch