Fight for equality in ski jumping – Katharina Schmid on the “bigger construction site”

German ski jumper Katharina Schmid uses a Sportschau wintersport podcast to reflect on years of pushing for equality in women’s ski jumping. She recalls realizing early that girls didn’t have the same Olympic opportunities and says that, even today, women still lack equivalent marquee events despite doing the same training as the men.

Schmid hails the prospective launch of a women’s Four Hills Tournament as long overdue, noting how the men’s Tournee is a focal point of each winter. She stresses that public pressure and athletes “being loud” have helped move things forward, and that her own visibility as a frontrunner makes it easier to be heard.

Comparing with other sports, Schmid points to biathlon in Germany, where women’s competitions enjoy parity and strong audiences—sometimes exceeding the men’s—which she sees as a benchmark for women’s ski jumping.

On governance, Schmid draws a distinction between her national federation, where she feels athletes are heard, and the international federation (FIS), which she calls “the bigger construction site.” She cites former athlete representative Eva Pinkelnig’s account of being talked over and ignored in meetings, with prepared points left unsaid.

Looking to the hill, Schmid previews the imminent Two-Nights Tour and wider World Cup picture. She highlights Nika Prevc and Nozomi Maruyama as currently very hard to beat, while praising German teammate Selina Freitag’s podium-challenging form and noting she herself was close in Lillehammer. For the men, she sees Domen Prevc as the form athlete but believes he is beatable; among Germans, Philipp Raimund’s podium streak could yield a first World Cup win, and Felix Hoffmann also has upside.

The full podcast episode expands on Schmid’s perspectives on media coverage, the pressures on out-of-form stars like Andreas Wellinger and Karl Geiger, and the camaraderie within her “Flamingo-Girls” friend group.