Following the 150,5-m jump by Gregor Schlierenzauer in Lillehammer last weekend there has been much discussion in the world of Ski Jumping. The competition jury stood in critic, there have been questions about athlete safety. Walter Hofer, FIS Head of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined was brought into the spotlight. We spoke with him.

Q. Walter Hofer, what is your role on site at a FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event, according to the FIS Rules?

Walter Hofer: I would like to begin by saying that I consider myself to be the main responsible person for what happens at international Ski Jumping competitions - on all levels. This also applies to Nordic Combined, in cooperation with my colleague Ulrich Wehling. Due to the increasing complexity in the last two years, however, we have had to make a division of responsibilities within our Competition Rules. Since I have both an overall coordination duty on site for the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and simultaneously various preparatory duties for the upcoming competitions (World Cup, World Championships, Olympic Winter Games), I have to remain independent of any geographic location. That is why we are supported by a Jury that is directly in charge of carrying out the sports competition.

Besides being responsible for the overall coordination, it is also my task to inform the media about jury decisions. For that I maintain a close contact with my FIS colleague Miran Tepes, who performs his duties as Assistant Race Director alongside the Technical Delegate and the Chief of Competition. All competition-related facts and figures are also shared with the responsible FIS Committees after the competition.

Q. The FIS Grand Prix last summer served as a test for new rules that would allow a change of the inrun length during a competition round and also would include the impact of the wind in the final point score. Why aren't these new rules in use during this winter season and why will they only be implemented during the World Cup periods 4 and 5 and at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2010?

Walter Hofer: Honestly! We have come very far in terms of the athletic value of these new rules. That is why the Nordic Combined Committee unanimously decided to use the entire World Cup season as a test for them. In Nordic Combined, the situation is also special since the competition format only includes one jump which is why it is even more crucial that it takes place under as fair conditions as possible. The jumping results determine directly the starting position for the skiing part of the competition. The individual performance thus gains further importance. We have already seen great competitions with enhanced media interest this season.

In the Ski Jumping Committee the majority also supported the new rules from an athletic perspective. But I have to agree with the skeptics that we have yet to give our public sufficient chance to experience them in reality. However, we can only do this if the highest technical standards are given. The FIS Council has given us the ok to test the new rules during the second half of the Ski Jumping World Cup season. With such an inter-disciplinary comparison supported by the intra-disciplinary facts, at the end of the season, we can then prepare and provide the FIS Council with a final proposal for the new rules.

Q. What is FIS's first priority at a World Cup event?

Walter Hofer: It is easy to read from the role descriptions that our highest priority is the athlete's safety. In recent years, we have an injury rate that can be expressed in terms of thousandths of a percent (not percents), and this despite several thousand competition jumps. And it wasn't always like that. Nevertheless, besides the many improvements, such as restrictive equipment rules, precise preparation of the inrun or of the take-off area, we continue to have areas of unpredictability that can lead to dangerous situations. We are working each and every day in an effort to try to prevent these, too.

Q. In your role as FIS Race Director for Ski Jumping in the last 18 years, you have been able to help Ski Jumping to become one of the most popular winter sport disciplines. What is your vision for the next 10 years - how should Ski Jumping continue to develop?

Walter Hofer: We, the Ski Jumping family, including numerous volunteers, have achieved a lot. But we must really thank and be grateful for our protagonists (athletes and coaches) who are the real ambassadors in making our niche sport into such a broad movement. That is what also opens us the door to expand or return to additional countries. The construction of new large hill jumping facilities is in the final phases in Almaty (KAZ), Erzurum (TUR) and Sochi (RUS). Moreover, new World Cup quality facilities are complete in Harbin (CHN) and YongPyong (KOR). Let alone the new hill in the "living room" of Ski Jumping, the new Holmenkollen, which is close to being finished. Add to that the reconstruction of the Ski Flying hill in Planica (SLO) which will ensure that all our World Cup facilities are up to par with the latest guidelines.

We are also paying special attention to the development of the ladies' Ski Jumping. With the further development of a large group of female jumpers we will very soon reach the required level of competition. Following the premiere in Liberec (CZE) we can already now look forward to very exciting and high quality competition at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo 2011.

FIS news
12/12/2009