The men’s ski flying world championships are taking place from January 25th to 28th. What is a highlight in the calendar for men is non-existent for women.
It starts again on Saturday: the men’s ski flying world championships. This year in Austria at the Kulm. Then the best ski jumpers in the world duel on one of the largest ski jumping hills and jump distances beyond 200 meters. Tour runner-up Andreas Wellinger is also there and hopes to achieve his sensational distance of 240 meters from last year.
The event, which is a highlight in the men’s calendar, cannot be found for the women – and it will probably stay that way for the time being. Only since last March have women been allowed to compete in ski flying – theoretically. In practice, there has only been this one event for one day in Vikersund.
Ski flying is more dangerous than ski jumping. The jumps are higher. The forces that act on the athletes are much stronger. Especially when landing. The forces there are so strong that they correspond to a free fall from a height of 2.5 meters and the susceptibility to injuries, for example to the knees, is high. There have been bad falls among the men in the past. Thomas Morgenstern fell heavily in 2014, landed with his head on the slope and was then unconscious. The Norwegian Daniel-André Tande also experienced such a fall in 2021 and even had to be put into an artificial coma.
However, the material rules have changed since then and have made ski flying safer. Wide-cut suits are no longer allowed. These used to offer more wing space when flying, but made this incalculable. The whole thing is no longer checked manually by one person, but via body scan. Last year there was a lot of discussion about whether women should take part in ski flying because of their body type and the danger that comes with it. Because women are petite and smaller, the forces have an even greater effect than on men.
Vikersund? “I would also like to apply for future seasons”
DSV sports director Horst Hüttel said in an interview with t-online: “The premiere in Vikersund worked well. It’s a shame that it wasn’t continued after the one-day event.” This means: Currently, women’s ski flying in the World Cup calendar is only planned for the Raw Air Tour at the end of March, a six-day season highlight within Norway at various stations, and the season finale again in Vikersund. No further events are planned – but that could change.
Even regular ski flying for women is conceivable. Fis ski jumping race director Chika Yoshida explains when asked by t-online: “Yes, if we receive an application from the NSA (National Ski Association, editor’s note).” This means that ski flying could take place on a regular basis if a national ski association applies to host it. Yoshida added: “And it looks like Vikersund wants to apply for the coming seasons too.”
Seven-time world champion Katharina Schmid has been campaigning for equal rights and against prejudices about physical differences in ski jumping for years. “I don’t think it’s unhealthier for women than for men,” she told “Sportschau” about the topic almost a year ago.
“Increase the number of competitions on large hills”
She added: “Of course the pressure is a little higher and the forces at work are more extreme. But I still believe that our bodies can withstand it.” In Vikersund in Norway in 2023, the best 15 athletes in the overall Raw Air ranking and thus the 15 top athletes in top form were also able to compete in ski flying for the first time. This year there will be 20 athletes at the end of March.
A “first step,” as Hüttel emphasizes. The fact that the forces act differently on women than on men is due to their stature and the smaller proportion of muscle. The performance gap among women is also very different from that of men. Hüttel explains: “I don’t think that the fiftieth athlete is currently able to ski well. You have to assess this realistically because of the responsibility towards the athletes.”