FIS Ski Jumping Committee reviews equipment rules to improve athlete safety

The FIS Ski Jumping Committee met in Zurich during the annual Autumn Meetings to discuss key topics for the 2025/26 seasons in Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, placing a strong emphasis on athlete safety.

Following three serious injuries to women during a FIS Summer Grand Prix event in Predazzo—a venue that will host Ski Jumping at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games—the committee reviewed equipment rules decided in the spring and also adopted by the Nordic Combined Committee, focusing on suit measurement tolerances and their impact on flight control and landing safety.

Under the current standard, both men’s and women’s suits must measure 2–4 cm larger than the athlete’s body circumference at any point. The committee approved a revised rule set for women’s events only:

• From the armpit to the knee, the suit must be 2–5 cm larger than the athlete’s body circumference at any point.
• Suit sleeves must be 2–4 cm larger than the athlete’s arm circumference at any point, and sleeve length must be at least 5 cm (previously 3 cm).
• The suit crotch may be measured up to 2 cm below the athlete’s body crotch height.

According to FIS Ski Jumping Athlete Representative Jernej Damjan (SLO), the changes acknowledge physiological differences and are designed to give women more stable flight, reducing vertical speed at landing and stress on joints. He noted that men adapted well to the prior parameters, but many women struggled, contributing to harder landings.

The updated regulations will be submitted to the FIS Council for approval at its October 21 meeting, with the goal of implementing them ahead of the final women’s Summer Grand Prix competition in Klingenthal (GER) on October 25–26. The committee also confirmed the introduction of yellow and red cards as a tool to address equipment-related infractions starting in 2025/26.