Mario Stecher, who is Austria’s head of sports in jumping and combined, believes that it is too early for all women to jump ski flying, and is unsure whether he wants more ski flying competitions in the future. – I have an open mind. It can work, but it can also be very dangerous, says Stecher to news after the historic ski flying race on the women’s side in Vikersund. He points to safety, and believes that women fall harder than men. – I think it’s too early for all women, because I’m not sure if it’s safe for every single woman. The security does not only apply to the worst women, but also to the best. They can also fall, and falling can be even uglier than falling to the gentlemen. It is something we have to think about, he says. – Why do the falls get worse for the ladies? – If you have more speed, the fall can be even harder. It’s something I think we all need to talk about and think about. And that’s something I don’t think we want. That claim did not go down well with the Norwegian show jumping camp. – Will have a look at the lists one more time When Silje Opseth is presented with Stecher’s claim, she reacts strongly. – Yes. Why is that like that? I don’t quite understand that. And now there is no one who has been close to falling that weekend here. And we are not in much greater danger than the boys are, says Opseth to news. NUMBER TWO: Silje Opseth came second in the ski flying race in Vikersund in the Raw Air tournament. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB She thinks Stecher should study the results list from the historic weekend a little more closely. – I looked at it a bit, and I had a lower speed in training on Saturday than what the boys had in the race. I can’t quite understand the moment of speed there. Then they get to look at the lists one more time, she says. She is tired of the fact that critical voices of women and ski flying keep appearing. – I wish they could realize that they are wrong soon. We have now proven that they do. And I think that with more jumps we will cope even better, too. So no. Grab a bowl and stand and grin in a corner. That is what I have to say to them, she says. HISTORIC PODIUM: Silje Opseth (2), Ema Klinec (1) and Yuki Ito (3) were at the top of the historic ski flying race for women. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Maren Lundby thinks the same. – There is little difference in speed. And as I understand it, even if we have a slightly higher output speed, they increase the speed outwards in the hover. So it is not certain that the landing speed of Kraft, for example, is somewhat lower than ours. It is also much higher than ours. I don’t know if I agree with that, says Lundby. She shakes her head. – If we can stop talking about girls not being able to fly, that’s fine. I want to talk about something else, says Lundby. Race director: Vikersund gave hope for the future Sports manager Clas Brede Bråthen has a clear counter-message to Stecher. – I have heard what kind of discussion his predecessor started in Austria. It is very nice if they can start arguing with things they can also document, and not just make claims. Because there are only claims that break with what medical research says, says Bråthen to news. UPDATED: Clas Brede Bråthen believes that one should read up on research. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB During the spring, it will be decided whether ski flying will end up on the calendar on the women’s side for next season. Bråthen hopes this will not be a one-off thing, like with the trip to the moon. Race director Chika Yoshida says that they will sit down and discuss whether there will be a world cup race in ski flying, but believes that the weekend in Vikersund gave hope for the future. – We must have good conditions and a good ground so that we can continue to develop ski flying for women, but we could see this weekend that this is going well, says Yoshida to news. In addition, they will consider whether they can open up a larger start list than 15 athletes, and whether the equipment can be developed to make jumping even safer. – More speed leads to more landing speed, but the angle is a little different in ski flying during the landing. We will discuss the equipment for both women and men. Larger suits give less speed, but then the jury cannot see how far a ski jump flies if there is more wind than expected. So we have to be careful, she says.
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