After a horror winter 2024/25, ski jumping icon Simon Ammann is willing to attack again in the new season. In the World Cup, the 44-year-old will have to recommend the chance to protect his eighth Olympic participation. The highlight in February is currently “far away” for the Swiss.
“Olympia is my big goal,” Simon Ammann announced in an “SRF” interview at the end of February. To do this, the Swiss, who only played two measly points in the last World Cup winter and had already officially lost its place in the A-squad of the Alpine Republic, at the beginning of January, but will have to prove itself.
“I had already found the approach after a long search in winter. I was able to activate the position a little so that I could do the swing better. After the end of the season I was able to process my impressions well,” the veteran now looked back in a new “SRF” interview for his preparation for the summer.
Ski jumping: “Age -independent question of how far you can jump”
This has moved the 44-year-old to continue a winter after the horror season: “For such things, you can search for a long time in ski jumping. I am glad that I stayed up for so long. In winter I felt the flow of energy again. It is an age-independent question of how far you can jump.”
Ammann does not yet think of the mega highlight in February, the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. If the Confederation actually made the jump into the contingent, he would only be the third athlete who takes part in eight competitions. So far, the only speed of ice has succeeded Claudia Pechstein from Germany and ski jumper Noriaki Kasai from Japan.
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“The Olympic Winter Games are still far away,” said Ammann a cautious look into the future: “There is a lot of work. It is about the competition rhythm, but also the internal competition that is high. It is very alive in our team. It all gives us, especially me, enormous momentum.”