– When alcohol and drunkenness take over and create unpleasant scenes, I find it very boring. It does not belong in sports. That’s what Silje Opseth says after jumping in front of empty stands in Holmenkollen. Earlier in the day it was far more crowded. It was also significantly more marked by drunkenness, and the police had to pick up heavily intoxicated young people from the area. – I still think that skiing and jumping should be a place where everyone should feel safe and can have fun and cheer on the athletes who represent their countries, says Opseth about the chaos that arose a few hours earlier. – I have the impression that a lot of people go to Kollen to party – not necessarily to cheer on the skiers or jumpers who will be competing. In that case, it’s a bit sad, continues the ski jumper. Silje Opseth has several times stated her opposition to mixing sports and drinking. Stefan Marx, general manager of the Holmenkollen Ski Festival, says that they are making arrangements for a folk festival both in the arena and in the field. – As organizers, we have no influence on the fact that a few people do not understand the joy of sport and what basically constitutes the folk festival, says the organizer. Grinning grandstands But even if Opseth is happy that they avoided excessive partying and drunken brawls during the show jumping, both she, her teammates and the foreign competitors could wish that more people made the trip to see them in action. – When we got up here in the car, we saw everyone who was on the way down. We had hoped that they had been waiting for us too, says WC winner Katharina Althaus. – It’s sad. We talk a lot about equality and about giving the women the same rights as the guys on the ski jump. The most important thing people can do is show up when there is an event, says news’s expert commentator Johan Remen Evensen. Before the race, the Norwegian jumpers hoped that the audience was just inside and warming up after the men’s Raw Air competition: – I caught a bit of the boys’ race here and then I thought it looked very promising with the audience. But it looks a little thinner here now. It does. We can hope that they are just inside warming up a bit and that they will come out again, said Thea Minyan Bjørseth before the first half. Unfortunately for the ski jumpers, only a few returned to their places. GLISSENT: There were around 100 people who saw the women jump. Photo: Frode Søreide / news – It’s a solitaire that will go up World champion Alexandria Loutitt also thought it was sad that barely a hundred people had stayed to see the women jump, but points to the cold as an important factor: – It’s quite sad , but it’s cold outside and it was a choice whether they wanted to see the men or the women jump. Although it’s fun to watch the women now, the men have a reputation that we don’t. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow when we are before the gentlemen. Evensen agrees that the cold is part of the explanation, but believes that the people must stand up for the female jumpers. – We can of course explain it by the fact that it is cold and people have been standing outside for a long time in Kollen today and beyond. It would have been best if we had managed to create the same framework here for the women’s race as during the men’s race – then it would have been difficult for FIS (the International Ski and Snowboard Federation) to say no. Now we give them a fairly simple ball to stop the development we see in women’s showjumping – unfortunately, says Evensen. He also wonders why there are two hours between the men’s and women’s races and why the women don’t jump first: – There are clearly things that can be looked at to make it better. These are probably decisions over the head of the Norwegian organiser. It is probably FIS that sits on the top decisions here. They have a program they have to deal with with many sports. It is a solitaire that needs to be sorted out, and it can certainly be set up better and more organized for the women. On Saturday, for example, the men’s biathlon relay in Östersund came in between. Organizer Marx says that the Holmenkollen Ski Festival cannot decide the order and that this is up to the FIS. BEFORE THE RACE: Both the sun and the spectators disappeared. Photo: Andreas Hagen / news Lundby jumped the farthest Maren Lundby struck with a monster jump in the first round, but with a deep landing 133 meters did not hold the lead before the final round. – I am very pleased with the jump. It’s incredibly cool to fly down like that and just get air under the skis. That’s delicious. Then I have to practice hitting, the 28-year-old told news after the first half. 133 METERS: Maren Lundby jumped the longest of all. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB The second jump was significantly shorter and Lundby finished in a disappointing eighth place after the brilliant first round. The WC queen Katharina Althaus led by two points down to Lundby before the final round, but she did not reach the podium either. After a surprising final round, Austrian Chiara Kreuzer, who was in fifth place after the first round, was crowned at the top of the podium ahead of Slovenian Ema Klinec and Anna Odine Strøm. – It was very fun. Incredibly fun to get on the podium in Holmenkollen. It is a big event just to jump in Kollen, says Strøm to news.
ttn-69
– Does not belong in sports – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
