The fact that ski jumping works without snow and on mats is nothing new. But the Fis racing director’s long-term ideas go much further. Not everyone is enthusiastic about it.
When it comes to the Maracanã, German sports fans probably first think of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Götze and the German footballers’ World Cup triumph in 2014. In the future, they could also associate the legendary stadium in Rio de Janeiro with ski jumping – at least if Fis racing director Sandro Pertile has his way .
“We are thinking of a mobile system. We could set it up in Rio in the Maracanã and put on a huge show,” said the jumping official of the world association Fis in Bischofshofen, Austria. Pertile has great visions for his sport.
The Italian sees his job as more than just organizing exciting and safe competitions in the World Cup. Pertile is thinking about the future of his sport against the backdrop of climate change and new marketing strategies. He still sees ski jumping as a winter sport. But things could be different in the future.
There hasn’t been much snow lately
Pertile refers to the completed Four Hills Tournament, where the backdrop of green meadows and brown hills in Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck was quite far from a winter wonderland. Pertile says it is thinking ten years ahead. His long-term goal is to create a successful product that is as weather-independent as possible. Ski jumping should become more global. Formula 1 is his role model.
“We have great options: We can jump on snow. We can jump on mats. We can jump hybrid,” he said. “And so we could go to Brazil and China, where there are a lot of people.” Last season, the World Cup in Wisla, Poland, started on green mats instead of snow for the first time. But Pertile’s ideas go much further.
There is the possibility of “building indoor facilities, for example in Dubai – if we could find an investor,” he said. “The mobile system with a hill size of 150 meters is our goal. With it we could go anywhere in the world.” A huge ski jump that can be built almost anywhere? Competitions in the desert? What do the jumpers think of such ideas?
“I personally don’t have to fly to Dubai to ski jump,” said Philipp Raimund. “I see that as a bit pointless. It’s perfectly fine for me to continue jumping here.” Teammate Stephan Leyhe doesn’t see the ideas as negatively. But the 32-year-old doesn’t seem enthusiastic either.
Physical limits
“You can’t neglect our core,” said Leyhe, thinking of traditional winter sports resorts. He is critical of ski jumping as a year-round sport with a significantly extended season: “At some point the body has its limits. Nobody could manage eight months.”
Regarding Pertile’s idea for Brazil, he says: “I don’t know if Brazilians can do anything with ski jumping.” Leyhe is “definitely ready” to try something out, but also said: “The question is whether I would rather jump in the snow in Oberstdorf in front of 25,000 spectators or in the sun in Brazil in front of zero spectators. I don’t know how that will work out would develop.”
Of course, Pertile, who is currently talking about a brainstorming phase, doesn’t know this either. “But it’s an interesting phase. We should be open to new things.”
Source: Stern
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