Women's Ski Jumpers Excited to Take Flight

(ATR) Top women's ski jumpers tell Around the Rings they can't wait to lift off Saturday in Lillehammer for their first-ever

World Cup competition.

"For everybody, I think it is so exciting that we start the ladies World Cup ski jumping in Lillehammer because Lillehammer is really a traditional organizer and they are so motivated to have the premiere event," says Chika Yoshida, the International Ski Federation's coordinator for women's ski jumping.

"This is really the best thing for us."

After many seasons of Continental Cup competitions dating back to 2004 as well as two successfully contested World Championships in 2009 and this past February in Oslo, women's ski jumping was approved by the IOC Executive Board as an Olympic discipline in early April.

This winter’s World Cup status for women's ski jumping is a vital step forward for the sport ahead of its Olympic debut in Sochi 2014.

"To be able to compete in a World Cup makes me proud," says Austria’s Daniela Iraschko, 28, the 2011 World Champion.

"It’s amazing for all the girls that we know we are now an Olympic discipline, and it was a long and fascinating fight to get there."

In Lillehammer, the women will receive a boost as a men’s World Cup event will also be staged Saturday with the genders alternating their first- and second-round jumps from the HS100 jumping hill in the 1994 Olympic Stadium.

During Friday’s qualifying rounds and Saturday’s event, Yoshida will receive support from veteran FIS men’s ski jumping race director Walter Hofer and his team. Yoshida, a native of Tokyo, began her work in the sport assisting the Japanese ski Jumping team in 1999.

The women's 2011-12 World Cup season will consist of 14 competitions spanning seven different countries – Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Japan and returning to Norway on March 9 for the finals in Oslo. The Continental Cup series will also continue on weekends when no World Cup events are scheduled.

"This season will be very exciting. Finally we have the World Cup and we will have a lot of changes," says Italian ski jumper Elena Runggaldier, the 2011 World Championship silver medalist.

"It is for sure very positive for our sport on the way to the Olympic Games in Sochi because now people will know that we exist and follow ladies ski jumping more than in previous years."

Viessmann, one of the leading international manufacturers of heating systems, is the presenting sponsor of the tour. OMV, an international oil and gas company, will also serve as an official sponsor.

Enhanced Television Exposure

Unlike during previous Continental Cup seasons, the women's ski jumpers will receive maximum exposure thanks to a full schedule of television coverage.

"The biggest difference from before is our TV product," Oshida tells ATR.

"Sport will be nearly the same as last season, but now we will have a TV production. For everybody, the quality of the TV product is so important so people can see our ladies and really feel it. Our sport has quickly developed over the past few years and we want people to see this."

Lindsey Van, 27, who captured the sport’s first World Championship title in Liberec, Czech Republic in 2009, has been the sport’s greatest ambassador. The veteran jumper, who served as a pre-jumper for the men’s Olympic competition in 2002 and has championed the cause for more than a decade, will miss Lillehammer due to a recent ankle surgery.

"We have great competitions and now the rest of the world can see this too," says Van. "World Cup on TV is great for our sport. People haven’t seen too much women's ski jumping so I think it will be very exciting for them. The women can jump really far too and people will see it now."

Yoshida says she expects between 12 and 15 nations and approximately 50 competitors per event to regularly benefit from the international coverage.

"It’s a big step for our popularity and the new generation of ladies jumpers," says Slovenia’s Eva Logar, 19.

"It’s very important for our sport to grow and be recognized," adds Atsuko Tanaka, one of many Japanese competitors who will jump this season.

"It’s a great opportunity for the world to see what girls are capable of and that ski jumping isn’t just a sport for boys."

Prize Money

Substantially greater prize money will be awarded to the women's ski jumpers this season. The various organizing committees are required to provide prize money of at least $20,000 per competition divided among the top 15 athletes with the winner receiving $3,300.

"For the ladies, this is obviously a wonderful development," says Yoshida. "It’s been a problem for some ladies to continue their careers in the past. For some nations, this prize money is really, really important."

Winter Youth Olympic Games

Women's ski jumping will also be on the program of the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck from January 13 to 22.

In addition to an individual competition on the normal hill, the girls will also compete side-by-side with the boys during an experimental mixed team event.

Onward to Sochi 2014

In February of 2014, the women will compete on the normal or 90-meter hill in Sochi – the same as their male counterparts – in a sport that has been contested by men ever since the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924.

"Everything really came together with such good timing," says Yoshida. "Both the World Cup and participation in Sochi were decided close together and this means everything for the ladies."

For the moment, Yoshida is entirely focused upon her responsibilities at this weekend’s first-ever World Cup event in what will surely be a unique atmosphere.

"It will be a great feeling for sure if we have good conditions, good sport and a great competition in Lillehammer, but that’s just really the start of it," she tells ATR.

"This season will be a really big responsibility and challenge for me and also everyone else because now there are so many people involved in the sport."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli

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