Shampoo and towels for victory, the ski jumper is angry. Women get only crumbs – Winter sports

The tour of four bridges is at its halfway point. Ski jumpers completed the German part of the prestigious series. In Ga-Pa and Obersdorf, they took turns with women who, at the turn of the year, competed on German bridges in the so-called Tour of two bridges.

German ski jumper Selina Freitagová.

German jumper Selina Freitagová dominated the qualification in Ga-Pa. However, she was not too satisfied with the reward she received. “I got a bag with shower gel, shampoo and four towels,” she told the German media in a flustered manner, recalling the topic of the undervaluation of female ski jumpers in the World Cup.

While men’s ski jumping still enjoys great popularity, especially in certain countries such as Germany, Austria or Finland, women in this sport struggle with minimal interest. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Freitagová already spoke about the almost zero reward for the first place in the qualification of the New Year’s race.

“I don’t want to make a science out of it. But I was told: Here you are, unfortunately we don’t even have five hundred left,” confided the sister of the Olympic medalist from Pyeongchang, Richard Freitag. His sister is a two-time world champion in team competitions.

Since the winner of the qualification in the men’s part of the World Cup earns three thousand Swiss francs (3,200 euros), Freitag’s indignation with the shampoo and towels is understandable. Heinz Kuttin, the Austrian coach of German show jumpers, also defended his client. “After all, women also want to earn some money. I don’t want to complain too much about it, but the differences are visible, even though a lot has changed in recent years,” said Kuttin.

The aforementioned shower gel and shampoo is, however, an extreme case. The rewards from the International Ski Federation (FIS) are given, so how much jumpers earn during the season depends on the quality of their performances.

For example, the winner of the World Cup race will earn more than 4,000 Swiss francs (4,300 euros). For men, this amount is three times higher. In addition, women do not receive any money for the first place in the qualification. Even the German legend Sven Hannawald criticized the hygiene package as a reward. “This is not worthy of a two-night tour. I don’t understand why they would allow something like that.’

Similar to football, the reason for the different remuneration is the viewership of television broadcasts or attendance at events. Simply, audience interest is key. For everything, he says that while the men have four bridges, the women have two fewer.