Norwegian ski jumper Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal’s life was complicated at the start of the World Cup on the home bridge in Lillehammer on Saturday by an advertising board behind the bench from which the ski jumpers are launched.
Photo: ČTK / imago sportfotodienst / nordphoto GmbH / Hafner
Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal.
Fortunately, the 23-year-old Norwegian kept his composure.
Usually the jumpers run off the bridge at the moment when they are fully concentrated and the coach shows them that the weather conditions are favorable. But Sundal didn’t get to see that during his qualifying jump.
When lowering the approach track, the organizers did not secure the advertising board and it moved down. The unsuspecting Sundal sotila when he just wanted to adjust his ski goggles.
The Norwegian stopped the impact, quickly took the approach position, and even performed the best qualifying jump at that moment. Immediately after the impact, however, he showed his displeasure with hand gestures.
“What’s going on up there? This is a scandal,” Norwegian NRK television commentator Christian Nilsen said in the broadcast. “This could have turned out crazy,” nodded expert Johan Remen Evensen.
“That was scary,” added Magnus Brevig, coach of the Norwegian national team. “If, at the moment when the ad pushed me down, my hand had been wedged between the bench and the ad, it could have ended with a fracture,” Sundal pointed out to NRK.
“I hope the incident will be investigated, because it was scary,” breathed the young jumper, who subsequently had a successful weekend in Lillehammer, finishing seventh and sixth and receiving an apology from the organizers after the race.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
