Hill Size Magazine
Ski jumping magazine
issue no 04 | march 2017
Editor in Chief Przemysław Wardęga wardega@hillsizemagazine.com Deputy Editor in Chief Martyna Ostrowska ostrowska@hillsizemagazine.com Assistant editor Maria Grzywa grzywa@hillsizemagazine.com Graphic design Aleksander Milejski Mock up the magazine Magdalena Piwowar Advertisement reklama@hillsizemagazine.com Cooperation: Aneta Biedroń, Ewa Bilan-Stoch, Ewa Blaszk, Jagoda Bodzianny, Karolina Chyra, Kata Deák, Michał Dejko, Klaudia Feruś, Bernhard Flatscher, Jakub Kot, Natalia Konarzewska, Stefan Piwowar, Paweł Skraba, Mikołaj Szuszkiewicz, Dominika Wiśniowska Publisher Akademickie Inkubatory Przedsiębiorczości ul. Piękna 68, 00-672 Warszawa Address of the editorial office AIP VISTULA (Hill Size Magazine) ul. Stokłosy 3, 02-787 Warszawa Contact address Hill Size Magazine Kręta 7/7, 50-237 Wrocław Photo on the cover Przemysław Wardęga
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issue no 04 | march 2017
Photo: Przemysław Wardęga
table of contents
4 THE PLACE FULL OF SURPRISES 6 EMIGRATION 8 ONE-MAN BAND 12 GUTS OVER FEAR 16 THE TOUGH ONE
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interview: Maria Grzywa
THE PLACE FULL OF SURPRISES Klingenthal is a really good place for polish ski jumping. Krzysztof Biegun won there the first World Cup competition in his career. Also this little german village is lucky for polish team which had their historical first win in the team competition. We talked to Sascha Brand, the chief of media office in Klingenthal and media coordinator in ladies ski jumping.
For the first time in 3 years you are not going to organize the opening competition. Do you think that problems with weather conditions could causeit ?
I dont really think so. Especially because we could always manage to secure the competitions in the past three years. We had a clear statement from the FIS from the very beginning: We were supposed to organize the opening for three years. Its perfectly fine, that after those three years things have been reconsidered. It is not a secret, that the Finish Ski Association was working very hard to get the Nordic Opening back to Ruka. And we are looking forward to our competition one week later. Trouble with weather. What does it mean for organizers?
Mainly its causing a lot of stress and sleepless nights. We always knew it would be tough in the middle of November. But we have been really extremely unlucky in those three years with the temperatures and the rain. It was causing very high costs. But again: After all, every single competition took place. We have to say it: you are the masters of preparations. Last year you did huge job with covering the hill throught one night. I think it means a lot for FIS. They know there is less probability in canceling the competitions.
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issue no 04 | march 2017
Photos: Sascha Branda private archive
How it looks from organizers side? We have the ambition to do the competiton weve been given. And we were always ready to do whatever it takes. We are proud that we could manage this. How does the media office work during such a big event as inauguration of the season? Are there any differences between the opening competition and a normal world cup competition?
The main difference ist he number of journalists on side. Compared to the years before, we had around 30 percent more media representatives on side, all in all around 120 every year. You need a bigger media center, higher internet capacity, a bigger mixed zone. And better nerves to deal with all the requests. But it was a great experience and we really enjoyed it.
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Sascha Brand
Are there a lot of differences between the organization of the winter world cup and the sgp?
journalits came to Klingenthal than on normal World Cup competition. How did you manage with that?
The main difference ist he snow. You don’t need it for the Grand Prix what makes things way easier. Other than that, we always have the ambition to organise Grand Prix on a World Cup level.
How I already wrote before, you need higher capacities. We also had more TV stations on side, covering the competition in many different countries. We had a funny situation with a TV team from Norway two years ago. They were supposed to be live in the news at 9.30 in the evening and wanted to do it right from the outrun. So they needed the big lights. We promised them to keep them on that long. At 9.35 our chief of the hill turned the lights off and went home. Problem was there broadcast was postponed 30 minutes. Things got a little hectic. The chief of the hill had to come back to turn the lights back on. In the end all went well and I think people in Norway had a pretty good impression from Klingenthal. ďƒ˘
What do you like the most about your job?
You never know what will come up. Im doing it since ten years and there are always surprises. The internet can collapse, you can have a blackout, the weather is unpredictable. And most of all we are working with a lot of people. And they will never run out of ideas to surprise us. What can you tell about cooperation with journalists? When you organised World Cup inaugartion more
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interview and photos: Martyna Ostrowska
ROAR LJOEKELSOEY
EMIGRATION January 2005, Zakopane, the individual competition at Wielka Krokiw hill is in progress. Thousands of white-red flags wave in the air, you can hear trumpets tooting and supporters chanting „Adama Małysz, Adam!”. Everyone holds their breath after Roar Ljoekelsoeys jump. Will he steal the win from our Eagle? Moments of horror. Puzzlement, and then... Amazing, first place, ex aequo! Twelve years after that historical competition we met Roar Ljoekelsoey in Zakopane. Not as an athlete of course but as a second coach of the German National Team. How do you feel here in Zakopane? It was long time ago when you won here together with Polish hero Adam Malysz...
2005 was really special year for me and it is really nice to be back here. Atmosphere is amazing, fans make so much noise all the time and they cheer for everyone, not only for Polish guys. I think this is the place with the best spectators among whole World Cup competitions. Yes, it is totally good to be back in here. Your role in ski jumping is quite different right now. Do you often look back on those times when you were an active ski jumper?
I don't look back on the past so often. I can remember some better or good jumps but I don't have a lots of moments like that. Now I'm trying to develop something else.
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Firstly you were a coach at Trondheropp in Norway, now you are working as a Werner Schuster's assistant. Was it difficult for you to start working on the other side of your sport?
It was quite okay for me. I had some plans for it when I was still jumping. It was quite natural that I started to be a coach after finishing my career as a ski jumper. I have a good feeling how the athletes feel and how they see the jump and thanks to that I can recognize those feelings. Then it is much easier to help them with some issues. When you decided to join German team you said that you are really happy but on the other hand also a little bit scared. How is it now?
It has been a really good decision. We have already done a lot of good work. The cooperation with coaches from our
other teams is really nice. Everything is developing. Of course we have some ups and downs but I can see that our team is performing better with every competition. Severin hasn't been jumping as he had before [He's injured and won't compete this season] but hopefully he will be back in top shape soon. The rest of the team has made a great progress with what they showed during this weekend in Zakopane.
issue no 04 | march 2017
Podium photo Jagoda Bodzianny
Roar Ljoekelsoey
You are also responsible for ski flying. German team wasn't the best on the world's biggest hills. What is your golden mean for that?
It's a long-term work to make ski jumper better flyer and to keep the speed. In this kind of flying speed is really important so this is the first thing, which we can consider while training. It is not only going to ski flying hills and jump. We are trying to make them jump better on normal hills, then it may help them on the ski flying hills. Norwegians are known as really good ski flyers. Why is it like that one nation is better in ski flying than the other one? What in your opinion
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Germans should do to perform good at ski flying?
I think for us, Norwegians, is a part of our culture. We are really offensive guys when it comes to jumping. We always want to fly longer and longer and we jump really aggressive. I think it is also our mentality and a bit of technique, which is quite aggressive and keeps speed on a really good level. Speed is really important at the first part of jump during ski flying. You will have Raw Air Tournament in Norway soon and we know that expectations are really high. What do you, as a part of a German team, aim for during this tournament?
We are looking forward to ski flying competitions in Vikersund but of course we will work and try to keep our level during whole tournament. If we make another step to be better and do like that all the time I am sure that we will participate in the tournament on the highest level and jump on the podiums. Hopefully, we will be able to fight for the final prize in Raw Air. Can you imagine jumpers from German team will be the best ski jumpers
at the end of the season? Who has made the biggest progress since you are the part of the team?
It is really hard to say right now because in ski jumping there are always some better and worse moments. Markus Eisenbichler was the strongest athlete in the first part of the season. He was performing really good. Even though he had some problems, he still was on a really good level. He shows that he has a really deep potential. It’s the same for Andreas Wellinger and Richard Freitag. I am sure that they can jump better than now and get to the podiums more often. Coming back to ski flying, do you think someone will be able to break a world record this year?
The hill is probably the same, so to break a world record there must be a perfect jump on a perfect time and weather conditions. It's possible, but it has to be a ski jumper who flies quite low and who will keep the speed coming out at the last part of the flight. Then he will be able to stand it. If you fly high on this lengths there is no chance to land on the feet. ďƒ˘
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Interwiev: Martyna Ostrowska, Dominika Wiśniowska
ONE-MAN BAND Coach, manager, psychologist – these are only some of the roles Vegard Haukoe-Sklett had after ending his career. Although the Norwegian tried many professions, all of them somehow found their way into ski jumping. That ex- ski jumper is the best example of showing that retiring from sports career isn't exactly the end of the world. You decided to quit ski jumping in 2015. Then, you started to work here in Trondheim. How did it happen?
I was finishing the bachelor degree at the University and I was asked to become a coach. That’s what I was doing last year, together with Mortem Solem. Now he works in the equipment control at FIS. I started my master education last year. I am writing my master
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thesis, which will be finished in May. Of course, I am writing about ski jumping. I am also a general manager at Tronderhopp. Was it clear for you that you will stay with this sport after the end of your career?
issue no 04 | march 2017
Photos: Martyna Ostrowska
I am so used to this environment. I love ski jumping. It is my passion and I appreciate that I have an opportunity to work with the athletes and sport in general. Even my master thesis is about sport. I am writing about sport psychology. Last winter I was at Holmenkollen, Vikersund and Trondheim where I was collecting data among World Cup athletes. I measured the psychological factors of athletes performance in ski jumping. At Tronderhopp I take care of everyday duties like sponsors etc. We have a lot of expenses so I have to make everything work properly. For example: we have a cafe in a cabin and a dorm for young athletes, where they live and eat. I need to take care of those places, check if they have enough supplies of food, skis for the athletes or fabrics for suits. These are my duties. You have studied psychology but now you are doing management. What was the most difficult thing for you at the beginning?
I wasn't used to do this kind of work. I wasn’t educated in that field, so the most challenging part for me was to get into routine and understand how things should be done and how it works. Also, reporting to the accountant companies wasn’t easy for me. Learning how to cope with all of that was a little bit difficult, but all in all it is a great experience for me. You have told us that you are still really into ski jumping. Can you imagine yourself doing something different?
Not really. Maybe something that would be closer to my education. My goal is to finish the university and become a sports psychologist, particularly in ski jumping. Working with the athletes is something that I want to do.
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Vegard Haukoe-Sklett What in your opinion is the most important thing when it comes to psychology in ski jumping?
Ski jumping is psychology. When you get to the highest level everyone trains the same, has the same equipment, technique etc. Things that differ good ones from the best ones is psychology. It was also a thing that I had to work on to perform better, to get rid of stress and gain confidence. I am really curious to find out how to improve and how to use psychology to work with athletes. Do you think every national team should have their own psychologist or athletes should do it on their own?
- When I was in the national team there was a psychologist, just in case we needed him. I think it is quite embarrassing when you have to go to a psychologist. That can be a problem. It is not easy for a person to go, see someone and start talking about a problem. I understand that. I would like to see that athletes make a change earlier in their career, not when the problem already exists. I mean, when you start to train systematically, with a power training and technique training, you also should make space for mental aspects. Psychology is 95% of the performance in performing on the highest level. It can change a lot in one moment. Those mental skills can make you do well at sports but if you don’t have them you cannot be better than just good. According to me, it is really important for the athletes to start the training of their mental skills earlier and become strong mentally. If the athlete starts to work on the mental aspects early, do you think it is possible to avoid such problems as for example Gregor Schlierenzauer had recently?
- It is quite difficult to say because I don’t know his problem well. It seems
to be a motivation problem. He was really successful, so it could be about that. There is also Rune Velta, what really happened to that guy? He had a wonderful season and after that everything collapsed. I can be a good example as well. I had a quite good season and then I got totally lost. I’ve never managed to stay there but maybe if I had been focused more on the mental part of training it would be different. Who knows. That is why I am so interested on that side of sport. On the other hand we have also Philipp Sjoeen. He is young and he really hasn’t achieved that much. He was great when he was younger but what happened then? That is the area I really would like to discover more to avoid such situations in the future. Athletes in general may have a lot of problems but also it is not easy to be a ski jumper in Norway. You are not really popular in your country but you still achieve a lot. What is the reason?
- Ski jumping in Norway is not really popular, definitely less popular than in Germany for example. I don’t really know why it is like that. Maybe it is because cross country skiing is a really big thing in Norway. I think we are the only country in the world that has such a huge interest in that sport. It is our national sport. Everyone is does cross country skiing since he’s a little child. We have solid and long traditions, also we are among the best in the world in cross country skiing. The media are also really interested in athletes and events. We have Petter Northug, who is media’s favourite. He is really cocky. He wins a lot and there is a lot of buzz around him. I think this is why ski jumping is not really popular here in Norway. During this season you organise that big tournament - RAW AIR. Do you
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think it can make ski jumping more popular in Norway?
Yes, I think so. I am 100% certain that Raw Air will be really good for us and a lot of people, also Norwegians, will come to the hills to support our ski jumpers. Now we have our own tournament. This is the hardest tournament in the World, with extreme pace, jumping every day and the ski flying competitions at the biggest ski jumping hill in the World at the end. It will be really tough. We have already started preparations with announcing the tournament. Everyone will love it. I am quite sure it will be successful. I hope that the interest in ski jumping will rise in our country, of course if the results turn out to be good. During the tournament, there will be a competition in Trondheim. What will be your role as a manager?
I won't be directly engaged because we don’t have a lot of jumpers in the national team but we have trial jumpers. Our duty is also to organise attractions for the supporters. We will have a group of volunteers so we need to take care of them as well. I started my work here in August so it will be my first World Cup as a manager. There is also another guy, who is responsible for the World Cup in Trondheim. He is going to make a sponsors list, talk with TV producers, media and contact the potential volunteers. He is more experienced than me so he will give me some tasks to do. We will divide our responsibilities during that time, but still I think I will have enough to do. We are not really involved directly in the tournament but we will help as much as possible. Every city works on its own but in general we are one
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group and we need to have a feedback from each place. We work on logistics, luggage, accommodation etc. mostly together because our goal is to make ski jumpers and all of the people who will come comfortable. We are planning to provide a train for all teams to shorten their time of travel from one competition to another. It is complicated but it sounds like a good idea. Expectations are really high. Do you think you can organise this tournament on regular basis, like the Four Hills Tournament?
- I really hope that is going to happen but I am not the right person to answer that question. I hope that athletes will manage this hard tournament. I know from my own experience that if I have to jump for 8 days straight and then go ski flying, I would make sure that I get enough rest to be well prepared. It is going to be really exciting to see how athletes will cope during these days. Also, expectations for our team are really high, especially after such a fantastic last season. We hope to be among the best. In Trondheim we also hope to have some guys from Tronderhopp in the top. For instance Andreas Stjernen, he is in a good shape. Do you think someone will be able to break the world record this season?
- Yes, I think the world record can be broken in Vikersund. I am really optimistic before those competitions. Of course, I hope it will be one of our guys who will break the record. If it's not going to be Anders Fannemel, then maybe Tande or Stjernen. Also Forfang would be able to do it, if he’s in a good shape. I think it's possible.
issue no 04 | march 2017
Photo: Przemysław Wardęga
Hill Size Magazine
Double world champion Stefan Kraft
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Interview: Martyna Ostrowska
GUTS OVER FEAR I meet Tom Hilde during one of the Continental Cup competitions in Austria. Chilled, with a cheerful smile and a boisterous hat on his head. It seems hard to imagine that this ski jumper with a carefree look on his face has over ten years of World Cup competitions and an enormous amount of experience. Would you confirm my thesis that ski jumpers are addicted to adrenaline?
focused and train really hard to be better.
- Maybe. I think as a ski jumper you are not so much adrenaline addict. You are more perfectionist. You want to succeed in what you are doing. When I jump I am more nervous and focused on succeeding than actual the danger of the jump itself. The level is so high now. You can succeed if you have enough experience instead of adrenaline. You have to be
According to that, do you remember your first jump? Were you really nervous?
Do you remember what was the main reason that you have started with that sport?
- I have started ski jumping because of my brother. We were three brothers in
Fot.: Jagoda Bodzianny
- Of course I was really nervous. Actually I do not remember my very first jump but I remember jumping as a kid. Everybody starts at the smallest hills so it was not that scary for me. It was exciting and it still is. I think it is one of the closest things you
can do to be able to fly. I think every human being has a dream of flying and we are pretty close. That is why it is so cool. Then we can maybe change the word adrenaline to the word excitement.
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issue no 04 | march 2017
Photos: Facebook Toma Hilde
my family and my parents did not have enough time to take care of the three of us all the time so I was tagging along with my brothers for seven years and that is how it all started. From the beginning I thought it is cool. After eight years I decided that this is what I would really like to do and I started to do it fulltime. Are you happy with that decision?
- I do not think I could succeed in another discipline. I am slim, thin and not so strong. Ski jumping is just perfect for me. I do not like to train too much and I can't be a cross country skier because it is too much training to do. Ski jumping is perfect for my personality too. Is it true that almost all of the ski jumpers, even really experienced ones, are really respectful when it comes to ski flying hills?
- Yes, because during ski flying sometimes we gain so much speed and we do it only two or three times per year.
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Tom Hilde We have much less experience than at the normal hills on which we train four times a week and compete forty competitions per year. Because of the speed in ski flying also danger of crashing is much higher. That is why we respect ski flying hills more. Falls are more or less connected to ski jumpers everyday life. Is there any good way you to overcome the fear?
- I had one really bad crash in my life. It was in Oberstdorf. I was afraid after that but the problem was not jumping but something else. After a crash you never know how your body will react. I was forty days without jumping. Every day I thought that maybe I will not be afraid but you never can predict how you will act when you will sit at the bar again to make your first jump after the crash. I really missed ski jumping this time so I was trying not to be really focused on what can go wrong. It was in the middle of the winter so I wanted to get back but I was concentrating mostly on why
I like ski jumping so much and how can I enjoy my sport again without any fear. It worked out. I was not afraid. How was your first jump after recovery?
- The first jump was actually really great. Jumps after that were also really good. At least I won the qualification round in Klingenthal, my first official World Cup jumping after that unlucky day in Oberstdorf. Then unfortunately the competition was cancelled. Fifty days after my crash I was on top during ski flying in Oberstdorf. It was pretty fast. Do you still have some moments when it comes back to you?
- I do not think about that crash anymore. I am more afraid about getting injured when I do something in my free time like playing soccer or just doing something stupid ;) I am not afraid about any accident at the hill but just doing normal everyday stuff like walking up the stairs in a hotel.
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Nick Fairall said that ski jumping is still a really safe sport. Would you confirm that?
- That is totally true. I think when you are on the level that we are in ski jumping you come to a point when you can't actually be afraid. If you are afraid you will not be on that level. I think that Thomas Morgenstern said something really clever. He felt 95% ready for ski jumping so he refused ski jumping. He could not compete because it was too risky. It was not 100%. That is the perfect way to say it. When you do not feel it for 100 percent you have no chance to make it. Do you think that this is an individual thing how sportsmen reacts to such a things?
- If it happens once it is not a problem. You still have done enough jumps and that was only one bad crash. It is a coincidence then. But if it happens several times because of your own fault and you do not know why, like Morgenstern, then I would start to doubt myself. It should be considered as a problem then. That is something what can not happen again in a short period of time. I think it is possible for everyone to get over one bad unlucky crash. Can it be also kind of a lesson for a ski jumper?
- When you are injured you get a little bit away from your sport. You watch it from the outside and get a very clean mental picture of how to do it. Every day for many hours you realize it and think about how it will be when you will be back. You also get more time to train what you are weak at. We do not have much time for such details during the season because we train technique. We have power training, lifting etc. Then you never have enough time to focus only on stability and these boring things. You get a step back and you can improve everything
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I do not think I could succeed in an other discipline. I am slim, thin and not so strong. Ski jumping is just perfect for me. I do not like to train too much and I can't be a cross country skier because it is too much training to do.
issue no 04 | march 2017
Tom Hilde that is important for daily training - walking and speed. Are you more motivated then?
- I was more motivated during my recovery. I think the biggest problem is when it happens more often. Some athletes have only light injuries and the recovery time is not so demanding. Then it comes to a sportsmen who are injured several times, same as a Kenneth Gangnes in our team. I feel really sorry for him right now. Having ACL torn again means going to the same long-term procedure again, so many months and hours of training that have been already done before. If he gets back now I will be extremely impressed but I think he will do it. He is a tough guy. I hope he will get back. If there is one guy who can do it is him. You like adrenaline not only at ski jumping hill. One of your passions is skydiving...When and how did you start?
- I wanted to get a skydiving license few years ago but I did not have enough time. It normally takes a lot of time so I was not able to do it. In 2012 or 2013 our coach Alexander Stoeckl suggested that we can organize our summer schedule to make it possible. Our federation paid for our license. It took one week only with sky diving. That was to get better impression how you handle air when you fly. But it is really difficult to make comparisons we wanted to do. You start from scratch when you take a skydiving license and you need many jumps before you can actually relate it to ski jumping. Can you use some of the ski jumping knowledge when skydiving?
- Yes it is really useful for me. I have around fifty jumps right now. I have learnt a lot and for example skydiving helps me to get better as a ski flyer. I think after that I am a little bit better
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at sky flying. You can of course relate a lot of things and sometimes it works both ways.
a kind of freestyle jumping competition?
- Yes, but I did not enjoy that really. It is really fun but it is not dangerous. You are secured everywhere. I like sports and things when you actually have to depend on yourself more. It is like a rollercoaster. It is okay but you know there is no real danger.
- I have never jumped there but it is something like a season ending party mixed with a competition. We do not focus on who wins but more about fun and gathering. During the season every athlete goes from place to place, from competition to competition, being really serious. It is nice to have everybody together after the long winter season.
Is there anything are you afraid of?
QQ:
- I am afraid of a lot of things. For example when we have gymnastic trainings or regular summer exercises. I am scared more during that because of the highinjury risk. Getting injured is our biggest enemy so when I do things which are a little bit outside of my comfort zone I am really scared.
1) The best recent ski jumper: Anders Fannemel 2) World Championships or Winter Olympic Games: both 3) Favorite ski jumping hill: Bischofshofen 4) Childhood idol: Janne Ahonen&Roar Ljoekelsoey 5) Best team-mate: Anders Fannemel 6) If not ski jumping, then...sitting in the office doing boring things
You have also tried bungee jumping...
What is that event which takes place every year in Lillehammer (Sørperennet)? I mean that tournament with
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Interview: Martyna Ostrowska
THE TOUGH ONE English Premier League, german Bundesliga, ski jumping and the police. It seems to be a pretty crazy mix at first sight but Daniela IraschkoStolz can't imagine her life without it. When she doesn't jump, she plays football or supports her favourite teams. She joined the police force. Breaking stereotypes is an everyday thing for her but it mainly means satisfaction and happiness for her.
Everybody knows you as a ski jumper but you also play football. Could you tell me how did it start?
- When I was a child I played football before I started ski jumping. In Austria we have a rule that girls above 12 years old can not play football with boys so in many cases they have to quit playing football and get into a women team. In my hometown there was no women team so I quitted soccer and started ski jumping. Maybe that is why I love football so much. I can do it in the summer and ski jump during
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winter. This is just perfect for me. I really like that game [football] and I also like to compete. It is different in both sports. If you are a ski jumper you have a team beside you but all in all you are an individual athlete. You win and lose on your own. Winning in ski jumping is better. Losing is much worse. When you are a footballer you lose as a team and this is much easier. Can you find a lot of differences between ski jumping and football training?
- There are a lot of differences. My football coach knew from the start that my first sport is and will be ski jumping. Thanks to that I can plan my training a little bit on my own and take some exercises from my ski jumping exercises on a football field. I do not need to go for my football practices so often. If you play in the highest women league in Austria it is still kind of hobby. It is totally different to men’s football. Maybe the top ten women players in Austria get money from playing. That is why almost
issue no 04 | march 2017
Photos: Fletscher Photography
everybody works, goes to school and then plays football. For me it is the same, I ski jump and then play on the pitch. Was there a moment when you had to decide which discipline will be your first or you were always sure that it will be ski jumping?
- I was always sure. When I started with ski jumping it became my whole life. I will never quit ski jumping training for soccer but I am trying to do both also when it comes to my training sessions. For example, I can have football training on Monday and Thursday and then strength training on Wednesday etc. I can organize my every week schedule for both sports because in those two you do almost the same stuff especially during the summer, I mean condition training. Playing soccer can be a part of my training before winter season starts. I have much more fun with that. In both disciplines I have to be fast. I play as a left or right midfield so being fast is really important . Is it really dangerous, for you as a professional ski jumper, to train football?
- I think it can be dangerous but actually every training is dangerous. I hurt my knee by doing nothing. I just made a wrong step. It was during football training but I did really nothing to cause that. I think it is more about having luck or not. So it is not that you can really hurt yourself because of playing football. Anyway I think that my ski jumping coach and people from Austrian Ski Federation are not the biggest fans of this part of my training. But it is my life and the most important thing for me is to be happy.
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz remember that?
- I was a goalkeeper only few times because we did not find anyone better for this position . They chose me because I can jump and I am fast. It is interesting to play as a goalkeeper but on the other hand is kind of not being the part of the team. You can not run all the time with the other players, you just stand behind and wait. When the ball comes you have to hold it. I find it rather boring. It was good experience but nothing special for me. You love playing football but do you also like watching?
- Yes, of course I watch football a lot. I really like to do it at home. I think Austria has the best team since very long time and even if we did not do the best at Euro '16 in France we are on really good way to play better and better in next months and years. You support your national team but are you also a fan of any of the clubs?
- It is not so interesting for me to watch Austrian league but of course I have my favorite team. It is FC Wacker Innsbruck. I was playing there and I still know many of the players. When I was a child my best team was Sturm Graz. They are my two most important teams in Austria. Additionally I really love Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. They play pretty awesome. I was also really impressed by Leicester last year. They were playing really good football and I think they are an example that in football everything is possible. That is what makes that game so fantastic. I think after last season everybody had a heart for Leicester. They really deserved that. You really know a lot about football...
You told me you are playing as a midfielder but is it true that you were playing also as a goalkeeper? Do you
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-Yes, I am really into it. Of course I do not know everything but as I said I watch a lot and sometimes I check
results, news, transfers etc. I am just really interested in that. I watch Champions League as well. Luckily there are not so many games during winter so I do not have to skip a lot when I ski jump. You play football, you ski jump and you are also a policewoman. Can you imagine that in the future you will work as a policewoman?
- Yes, I am quite happy that I got the chance to work for the police. In Austria when your sport is an Olympic discipline you can go to the police school and during your sport career gain a profession. When you are a sportsman you have a choice between army or police and I chose police. I was not the youngest when I had to decide but now I can say that it was a good decision. I can go to school and afterwards have a fixed job. In police in Austria girls and boys have the same chances to make career there so it is really interesting. I work every year two or three months. It depends how much time I have. It is hard work but it is totally good. I think I would like to work as a police officer. I am not sure for one hundred percent because maybe I will try to work as a coach but we will see what the future will bring. I care about my future life but now it is a little bit too early to say anything. I have a lot of things to choose from and this is really good news for me. Once you tried to be a coach during opening of a new ski jumping hill in your hometown in Eisenerz. You gave the sign for the ski jumper who made the first jump. How was the feeling?
- This time it was just for the photo but sometimes I train with kids from this area and I really like it. It is nice to tell people how they improved. I really love sport and it is so impressive when I can help people or just give them some
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tips. I am the oldest girl in our team and sometimes I also work as an unofficial coach in our group. I share my experiences with younger girls. I know many things about ski jumping and they ask me a lot about some details. I talk to them a lot about their feelings, I mean how do you feel about that or that. I think that when I will be a coach I will do it as well. Of course coach has to tell you: you were too late or too early but you need to know how did you feel your jump because you can not see yourself while jumping. You have to feel what you do wrong. You are one of the most experienced ski jumper nowadays. Do younger girls ask you a lot about what they do wrong or what they should improve ?
- I think we have really cool team. My colleagues make me feel younger than I really am. It is always real fun to spend time with them. Sometimes they ask me but more about competition when they have their first one or about training methods and sometimes about...problems. It is really strange because for me it is hard to understand problems of girls who are really young, I mean 15 years old girls, have. When I was young it was pretty the same but now it can be kind of hard task for me. We get together as a team. We are a great team and I think this is the reason why we were so strong last season. We like each other and it is natural for us to we help each other. Did you as a young sportswoman have someone who helped you in various situations?
- When I started ski jumping there was not a lot of people around me really involved in that sport. There was one girl, Eva Ganster but she did not like me so much so I did not ask her a lot. Anyway we had a really good team, also with boys. They liked me and I liked
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them so there was no problem. We had real fun together. Now it has changed. In these times I was so happy when we had two or three competitions during the season. Now we have more competitions and possibilities to improve ourselves. It is normal for young girls, for me not. Sometimes it is a really strange feeling. When we were able to start in the Olympic Games I thought: okay now I can enjoy my sport at the highest level and as much as I can. This is the time for younger generation of girls who jump to take a lead and go forward and forward to make it even better for women ski jumping. But I realized that it will be always my part. Young girls are happy about it as well but for them it was always like that. They always have World Cup and World Championships. I think sometimes they do not feel the difference. Of course it is like that but you should always fight for more. I always feel that I am a really big part of this sport. Now we have the Olympics and that is also a result of my own work. I am really proud of it. Is there something like a special ladies power among ski jumpers from all of the teams. Do you feel that you fight together to make the discipline better for all ladies? Some girls from USA told me that even if they are better than boys people are still shocked that they also jump.
- Yes I can say that there is something like that, that we are kind of family. When I started there was me an Anette Sagen from Norway. We were competing, sometimes she won, sometimes me. There was also strong team from Germany and that was all. I really appreciate how it is right know and I think all of the girls should. In the USA they have no money and they do not organize competitions. The sponsorship there is still not so strong as in Europe. But they can
not always say 'this and that is not good ' or 'we need more competitions' etc. It is just US style I would say. Comparing ski jumping to ski cross or other disciplines we are really lucky ones because they do not have so many competitions. Of course we can have more but we need to fight for that together as a family and maybe then it will be possible to have more money and make women ski jumping more famous. Fair play is really important in football as it is in ski jumping. Once you got a fair play prize when you gave your skis to Slovenian athlete Spela Rogelj. What was the situation and what happened?
- Spela did not get her skis on time. She lost her luggage at the airport. Luckily we have the same size. She came to
issue no 04 | march 2017
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz
me and asked if she could use my skies. I agreed because I had more than one pair of skies and I did not need every pair during competition. It was funny because I jumped on Fisher skies and she normally has different ones. I was really curious how she will do with my equipment. Bindings in my pair of skies were too narrow so she had to change them quickly to be able to jump but she was doing really well during that competition. After the competition we were both leading in the World Cup. It was so funny because she jumped better with my skies than with her personal ones. Did you expect that you'll get any prize?
- No I did not expect anything because for me it was obvious. I am pretty sure
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that if I had same problem she will help me. She is one of the oldest just like me. She knows how it was before and she fought a lot for Slovenian ski jumping. It was just that family feeling. This is what I said before. You need to fight for your sport and do better and better. Also situations like that show people that we are family, we are devoted to our sport and we love it. I can see it in Austria because every year there are more media, interviews and questions. More and more people know you and then you have a chance to get more money. It works but without active athletes we would have nothing like that. What I see is that my sport was developing very slow and now it changes so fast. I am really proud of it.
When you think about ending your professional career do you see any athletes in Austria who can be as successful as you?
- We have really good young athletes. There is one girl in my hometown. She is really young but she jumps pretty awesome. I can compare her style to mine. She jumps a little bit like she had broken hands, just like me. She is crazy enough to do this and I really appreciate that I can see her jumping. Also in our team we have young athletes who get more self-confidence and more World Cup points every year. Thanks to that they know that they are able to jump really good. Last year we won overall World Cup as a team and that was a really good result. Individually we did not win but well...Sara Takanashi won everything ;)
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Photo: Przemysław Wardęga
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#getwellsoonSeverin issue no 04 | march 2017
Photo: Dominika Wiśniowska
#welcomebackSchlieri Hill Size Magazine
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