– It is completely tragic. We are pushed away because of the boys. Wish we had had two races. It’s an absolutely beautiful hill and I think it could have been tough, says Eirin Kvandal to news. The 22-year-old was the best of all in qualifying on Thursday, but was out after the first round on Friday morning. Thus, the jumping party is over before the weekend has actually started. The men’s jumpers have races in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. The same applies to the male combined athletes. Kvandal would have liked to see that they too could join the party at the weekend, instead of jumping in front of almost empty stands on a Friday morning. – Fewer people have the opportunity to come and see one on Friday morning. Most people understand that, so it’s a bit of a feeling of not being prioritized. AUDIENCE: There was a lot of glee in the stands during the women’s jump race on Friday morning. Photo: Anders Skjerdingstad / news The weekend is over before it has started Slovenian Nika Kriznar won the women’s long jump after a jump of 131.5 meters in the first round. Best Norwegian will be Thea Minyan Bjørseth, who jumped up from 15th place to 7th place with a jump of 123 meters in the final round. Silje Opseth took the place behind Bjørseth. They also support their teammate in their criticism of the set-up for women. – The weekend is over before the weekend has actually started. It’s a bit boring to go here for a competition, says Bjørseth to news. Silje Opseth calls it all stupid, but still thinks there has been progress compared to before. – We are allowed to participate, we have not always been allowed to do that. So we want to take that with us, and then I hope something happens with the development for our future. Skuldar on the organizer Race director Chika Yoshida at FIS, understands the frustration of the Norwegian jumpers, but explains that the weekend is packed with both cross-country skiing, combined and men’s jumping on the programme. TIGHT PACKAGE: Race director Chika Yoshida. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – When we set the calendar, our wish was to have two competitions this weekend, but as you understand, this is a traditional “Lahti ski games”, and with all the disciplines it is fully booked. We must take step by step to improve our program. All this weekend, the race director will have a meeting with the Finnish organizer in the hope of finding a solution for next year. – I really hope that the organizer will cooperate with us. They will also make it happen, they have said. The local organizer responds to news by passing the ball on to the Finnish Federation and its gentlemen race director Sandro Pertile. More money to be made from men’s showjumping He explains the situation with the fact that the men’s market value is greater, and that this is the reason why they get their competitions at the best broadcast times. MARKET VALUE: Race director Sandro Pertile says the men’s jumpers have a greater market value than the women, and therefore they are given priority. Photo: Geir Olsen / Geir Olsen – And this year the local organizer did not have the funds to finance an extra competition for the women. – But doesn’t FIS as an organization have a responsibility to promote women’s jumping? – We have just had a meeting with the local organizer and we are both determined that next year we will have two competitions for the women as well. He is nevertheless clear that market forces are the decisive factor. – This is also the case in football. Ronaldo and Messi have greater market value than their female professional players.
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– Completely tragic – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
