February 19, 2009 (Liberec, Czech) – Women’s Ski Jumping will debut at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec (CZE). Walter Hofer, FIS Race Director for Ski Jumping, answered some questions about the premiere and the current state of the discipline.

How come the first Nordic World Ski Championships in Ladies’ Ski Jumping are held at Liberec 2009?
Walter Hofer: “It is still a very young discipline, even though it is undergoing rapid development. There have always been a few girls who managed to jump on larger hills also at an adult age. However, specific development programs have only existed for a few years in a selected number of National Ski Associations. The 2009 World Championship is therefore the next evolutionary step.”

How many nations will participate?
WH: According to the entries, some 39 ladies from 13 nations will participate.

Besides the World Championships are there other international competitions for the ski jumping ladies?
WH: There has been an international series for five seasons now, called FIS Continental Cup, same as for the men. For four years now, we have carried out the ladies’ Junior World Championships in Ski Jumping, and those are showing growing numbers of participants. FIS has also organized several international youth competitions.

According to which rules do they jump?
WH: The international competition rules for Ski Jumping have been formulated completely gender neutral and are thus equally valid for the men and ladies. In addition, there are special provisions for carrying out the FIS Ladies Continental Cup.

Does this also concern the competition material?
WH: In principal yes, only for the jumping suit there are some marginal adjustments.

On what size of hills do they jump?
WH: The FIS Council has defined the hill size as the normal hill or smaller, at the request of the coaches,.

How do you personally see the current stage of development of this
young discipline?
WH: The sporting value is a hundred percent given. However, we still have a very young average age of the competitors. At this point, it remains important to observe whether the participant numbers can be maintained when the competitors reach adolescence. We hope for corresponding programs in the National Ski Associations.

Is there a male or even female Race Director for the ladies?
WH: Right from the start, the ladies’ series has been accompanied by a FIS Coordinator. In this context, I would like to express my gratitude and praise the work of our colleague, Edgar Ganster (Aut). As the father of Eva Ganster and as FIS Coordinator for the Continental Cup series he made important contributions to the development of ladies’ Ski Jumping. After his retirement, this position was taken over by our female colleague Chika Yoshida (Jpn).

When will we get to see the first Ladies Ski Jumping World Cup?
WH: I believe that these World Championships serve as a type of positioning for the future. It will be up to the National Ski Associations to approach the FIS Council with further development ideas.