Ski jumping: No tour for women: There is no trace of equality on the hills

When Katharina Althaus had to make a decision about continuing her career after her three world championship titles last winter, the Four Hills Tournament kept coming to mind. A possible premiere for the women was one of the most important reasons to hold on for at least one more winter. Now the biggest annual event in the ski jumping world is coming up for the men and the women are looking into the tube again. Instead of a tour, the pilots only have the “Two Nights Tour” with two competitions in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (December 30th) and Oberstdorf (January 1st). They only complete the men’s German tour locations, in reverse order.

“The disappointment outweighs the disappointment,” says the record world champion, who is now called Katharina Schmid after her marriage. »Of course I’m happy to finally be able to compete at home again in the New Year’s competition in Oberstdorf. The fact that friends and family can be there is special. But it’s just a small consolation for the tour. I really can’t understand why there is still no real Four Hills Tournament for women.«

She’s like many people in the ski jumping scene. “I don’t like half measures, alibis or substitute events,” criticizes tour legend Sven Hannawald, who was the last German to win the ski jumping Grand Slam 22 years ago. The two competitions on the prestigious large hills in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen are missing for a complete tour this winter. The Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) will instead organize two on January 3rd and 4th World Cups on the small hill in Villach.

However, to declare Austria’s ski association the sole culprit for the renewed delay in the premiere of a women’s four-hills tournament misses the truth. The whole thing is a complicated story that can be summarized briefly: three years ago the German tour organizers were against their own women’s event and the Austrian ones were in favor. Now it’s the other way around: The German Ski Association (DSV) is promoting the women’s premiere of the world’s largest annual mega event in ski jumping, which has existed for men for over seven decades. The ÖSV is braking.

There are certainly understandable reasons for this. After the DSV’s cancellation in the meantime, Austria had the New Year’s Eve tour with Villach and the Slovenian Lovely organized a kind of replacement tour in the World Cup around the turn of the year. At the premiere last winter, the overall winner of the four competitions was awarded a considerable prize money of 20,000 Swiss francs and a “Golden Owl” trophy. The enthusiasm was limited. »The biggest mockery of women was the tour last winter in completely different places. And with a golden owl instead of an eagle as a prize – that was an insult to the women because of the body shape,” complains Hannawald.

DSV sports director Horst Hüttel hopes that an agreement will be reached with the women about a real Four Hills Tournament this winter. »There have certainly been mistakes made by both sides in recent years. But we have learned from our failures. Our dates are set, we now have the two German tour competitions in the World Cup for the first time. All that’s missing is the other side. I know that people in Austria are thinking about it and I hope that there will be discussions soon.«

In the end, the ÖSV will probably have little choice but to give its approval for the premiere of the ski jumping Grand Slam for women. The pressure from jumpers and the public increases with each year of lack of “equality on the hills”. »It’s about equality. We were able to ski fly for the first time last winter, but the Four Hills Tournament would be the big highlight for us and the spectators,” says double world champion Selina Freitag. According to Hüttel, there is already considerable interest in tickets for the “half” tour this winter, even if there won’t be full stadiums like the men’s: “That has to grow first. But both competitions will be shown live on TV on ARD and ZDF.«

However, the two World Cup events at the turn of the year take place in the reverse order to the men’s tour. This is exactly a point of criticism from the ÖSV, which wants to create the women’s Four Hills Tournament as a “perfect product”. Hüttel appears willing to talk: “A women’s tour in the same order of locations as the men’s would certainly be the ideal solution for the women – even if the implementation is logistically the most difficult.”

However, the chances for a real women’s Four Hills Tournament are better in the same order of jumping as for the men. The start in Oberstdorf and the finale in Bischofshofen now traditionally take place under floodlights. There is now artificial light in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and, after a long struggle, Innsbruck is also allowed to build a floodlight system. ARD expert Hannawald therefore has an idea as to how the women’s Four Hills Tournament could fit in perfectly: “The four men’s competitions on the tour could start at 4.30 p.m. in the future. And the women would be there first. TV and viewers are already there anyway, that would be the perfect, sustainable solution for everyone. Then the women would also have a full hut.”

Hannawald is not the only one who considers the problems with the accommodation in the tour locations due to the entourage of women as a further problem to be “nonsense”: “The women would also like to travel longer from their hotels for a real tour – by bike if necessary.” This is not the only reason why hope for an agreement on the first women’s Four Hills Tournament is high everywhere: the world association FIS has the dates in the women’s World Cup calendar for 2024/2025 in addition to the two fixed German tour stops as well as the two possible Austrian tour jumps at least free for now.

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