Eva Pinkelnig furious – says athletes were “used as guinea pigs” after Predazzo crash

Austrian ski jumper Eva Pinkelnig, the overall World Cup winner in 2022/23, spoke publicly a month after suffering an ACL tear on the Olympic normal hill in Predazzo. In an interview with ORF, she said she felt “used as a guinea pig,” blasting the International Ski Federation (FIS) for what she viewed as a reckless choice to run athletes off a hill with a problematic profile.

According to Pinkelnig, the hill’s issues were known internally: she claims the FIS race director himself had referred to a design flaw. Despite this, she said competitors were pushed to jump under time pressure. The same weekend, two other prominent athletes—Canada’s ski jumping star Alexandria Loutitt and Japan’s Nordic combined athlete Haruka Kasai (injured on the large hill)—also suffered ACL ruptures.

Pinkelnig questioned why athletes were not informed sooner and criticized the oft-repeated mantra that “athletes are at the center” as hollow when safety concerns go unaddressed. She also shared reflections on the high-performance environment, saying there is often too little time for personal development and too little attention to athletes’ well‑being.

On her own future, Pinkelnig reported that rehabilitation is going well and that she is considering a return to sport. She has ruled out the 2026 Olympics and noted that the 2030 Games would likely come too late for her career plans. Still, she remains positive, saying she has already achieved a lot and believes she can still accomplish “a bit more.”