Katharina Schmid finished fourth at the women’s ski flying World Cup in Vikersund, Norway. (IMAGO / Nordphoto / IMAGO / nordphoto GmbH / Hafner)
It was a historic day for the ski jumpers. The first official World Cup in ski flying took place in Vikersund, Norway. “It feels even cooler to be in the air for a few seconds longer and really fly,” said Katharina Schmid, three-time ski jumping world champion, on Deutschlandfunk. “I really got into flying for the first time. Then you just thought how cool it felt.”
Schmid had set himself a goal of 200 meters, but in the end it was 195 meters. That was enough for fourth place. “But I was happy that it felt like ski flying and not just like falling down quickly. And from that point of view, I’m very, very happy with my flights.”
Schmid is happy that after a difficult start to the season she was able to “show once again what I’m made of.” She now draws motivation from this for the coming season: “It’s good to know that you haven’t forgotten it. That when you show top jumps, it’s your turn.”
No decision yet about resignation
But this isn’t a decision against a possible resignation, said Schmid: “I’ll let it come to me now. We have our last World Cup next week. Then I’ll enjoy the off-season and think about what happens next. “
A big topic in ski jumping is also the issue of equality between men and women. “We’re not quite there yet,” said Schmid. “I think it just takes a few more years. We’re on it, thank God something is happening. We’re getting more and more competitions, like now a ski flying World Cup. But of course we’re still a long way from equality. “