Setting the course for the Ski Jumping future in Dubrovnik

In Dubrovnik, Croatia, the annual meeting of the FIS Ski Jumping Committee took place on Friday. Under the leadership of Chairman Mika Kojonkoski and the two Race Directors Chika Yoshida and Sandro Pertile, the representatives of the nations met to analyze the past season and to set the course for the future. Jernej Damjan and Eva Pinkelnig were present as athletes' representatives.

Special attention was paid to the topics of future strategies and sustainability at the meeting in Croatia.

"All our decisions are related to our vision "Global and economically sustainable" is the vision for the coming years formulated by Sandro Pertile.

Body measurements digital, fluorine ban

There are major changes from the equipment area, i.e. the material area: a body scanner will be used for the body measurements of the ski jumpers from next summer. In the past, there had always been discussions about the analog measurements, which will now be put to an end with a fully automatic, digital measurement by laser scanner.

In addition, the ban on fluorine in ski wax will be enforced from 01.07.2023. This had already been worked on for some time, but until now the control measurement had not been possible in the required quality/time. Now the problems with the measurement of the environmentally harmful fluorine have been solved and there will be the first controls during the Summer Grand Prix and the European Games as part of a test run. From the winter onwards, appropriate penalties will also be imposed for the use of fluorine.

The calendars for summer 2023 and winter 2023/2024 were also presented.

After last winter's season opening in Wisla (POL) had been held as a test run in the so-called "hybrid mode" (inrun ice track - take-off slope plastic mats, no snow), the possibility for hybrid competitions now exists in exceptional cases also during the season. A corresponding paragraph has been added to the rules. However, it requires the approval of the Jumping Committee Chair, the Calendar Planning Committee Chair and the Race Director in all cases.

"We don't have a hybrid date in the calendar for next winter, but we have to face reality and be prepared just in case. A hybrid competition is not necessarily what we want, but it is better than no competition," explained Sandro Pertile.

At the same time, the FIS requires the organizers of the so-called 3rd time period (November and December) to create a snow depot in order to be able to ensure the occupation of the hill with depot snow in case of warm temperatures and insufficient natural snow. So one wants to be prepared for all situations.

Women's ski flying in the World Cup calendar

For women - after the great success of ski flying last winter in Vikersund - ski flying is coming to the World Cup calendar. The number of participants for the competitions will be limited to 15 (the best placed in the overall World Cup) + max 5 additional participants (will get a special start authorization) i.e. max 20 athletes.  How exactly the 5 additional athletes will be chosen, will be announced by the FIS by autumn.

At the World Cup Ski Flying there will also be a record prize money for the women: 66.300,- Swiss Francs will be distributed per competition, divided from places 1 (10.000,- CHF) to 20 (1.100,- CHF).

New race series for women: FIS Inter-Continental Cup

There will also be a new format as a second level of competition for the women: The new FIS Inter-Continental Cup for women will combine the existing FIS Cup and Continental Cup series into a new race series.

Safety tape and ski stoppers will be mandatory

In addition, some adjustments to the equipment have been decided: for example, the so-called safety strap has become mandatory, this strap ensures that in the event of a binding problem (for example, breakage of the clip), the athlete does not completely lose control between body and ski and can land safely.

Ski stoppers will also be mandatory for every athlete to mount on their skis in the coming winter. The ski stoppers are intended to prevent the skis from sliding uncontrollably and at high speed through the run-out in the event of a fall, thus posing a significant risk of injury to athletes and others involved.