Katharina Althaus is looking forward to an unusual turn of the year. “I am happy that I can now celebrate New Year’s Eve for the first time with my ski jumping girls,” said Germany’s best jumper. Like the men in the four hills tournament, this year the women are also challenged on December 31 and on New Year’s Eve. Winter after winter, the jump calendar of Althaus and her colleagues becomes fuller and more attractive. The jumpers are happy about that. However, the fact that there is no four hills tournament yet is also causing increasing impatience.
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The competitions around the end of the old and the beginning of the new year will not take place in front of a television audience of millions on the Large Olympic Hill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as with Karl Geiger, Markus Eisenbichler and Co., but in Ljubno, Slovenia. “The fact that we have Ljubno in it as a New Year’s jump, of course I am happy about that,” said Althaus’ colleague Selina Freitag. However, the 20-year-old also notes: “Of course, it’s not the four Hills tournament. In any case, we girls want to have the same system as the guys.”
For years, the ski jumpers have been hoping for the top event of their sport with such a special unique selling point. The Football Bundesliga is on its winter break, Formula 1 and other major sports are not taking place: the chance of attention and prestige for the flight artists is never as great as between Christmas and Epiphany.
The athletes’ ideas are also correspondingly concrete. “The four hills tournament belongs where the boys are already jumping,” said Freitag – i.e. to Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. The hope: The tradition and the force of the men’s event, which is taking place for the 70th time this year, should also have a positive effect on a women’s tour. In addition, one could also benefit logistically from each other.
Ideas and statements of intent for a women’s tour have been around for years. Whether athletes, athletes or organizers: actually everyone expresses themselves positively about the topic. However, exact plans or a precise start time have not been published for a long time. However, recent statements by Four Hills Tournament President Peter Kruijer now suggest that something could really happen soon with the dream of a premium event.
