“The men get 3,000 francs, I get shampoo”

“The men get 3,000 francs, I get shampoo”
“The men get 3,000 francs, I get shampoo”

German Selina Freitag won the qualification for the Garmish competition on Monday. image: Getty

German jumper Selina Freitag denounced gender inequality after her victory in qualifying in Garmish-Partenkirchen.

03.01.2025, 19:0103.01.2025, 22:40

Money for men, junk for women: this is what the German Selina Freitag denounced, victorious on Monday in the qualification of the Garmish-Partenkirchen competition – first stage of the Two Nights Tour, the women’s counterpart of the Four Springboards Tour.

“For men, a victory during qualification brings in 3,000 francs. Here I received a bag with shower gel, shampoo and four towels,” she told German television channel ARD, once the protocol ceremony was over. “I don’t want to complain too much, but we can still see the differences,” she added.

Horst Hüttel, sports director of the German Ski Federation (DSV), is equally irritated by this sexist injustice: “The towel and the shower gel are poorly chosen. It is better not to give anything in this case. Coach of the young woman, Heinz Kuttin, who regrets such a disparity, recalls that there has been progress recently. However, he believes that they are not yet sufficient. “A lot of things have certainly changed for the better in women’s ski jumping, but women also want to make money. We should take a step in this direction,” he said.

The technician is referring here to the fact that jumpers have been authorized to participate in the Olympic Games since 2014. But also to the creation of the Silvester Tournament, which became the Two Nights Tour when the women finally made a stopover in Germany, in Oberstdorf and Garmish-Partenkirchen , like these gentlemen. However, there is still work to be done, since to make this event a real Tour of the four hills for women, the Austrian stages, in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, are still missing. The International Ski Federation (FIS), however, hopes to be able to add them to the winter calendar as quickly as possible.

A less attractive product

The women’s competition in Garmish-Partenkirchen, won by Nika Prevc, took place three hours after the men’s qualification, organized early in the afternoon. However, he only attracted 3,000 spectators, compared to 10,000 earlier in the day, indicates Bild. If women’s ski jumping generally attracts fewer spectators at the bottom of the jumps, it has also suffered from programming here. The first round actually started at 4:20 p.m. on December 31.

We will certainly have to wait a long time to see female jumpers earn as much as men. But Sandro Pertile, responsible for the men’s World Cup, promises to work on it at least to avoid such disparities, after the 2025 World Cup in Trondheim, from which point he will be in charge of the two circuits.

For now, the Slovenian Nika Prevc, victorious in Oberstdorf and Garmish-Partenkirchen, has pocketed 4,300 francs during each of her two successes. This is more than three times less than the bonus granted to a stage winner of the Four Hills Tour, according to the scale displayed on the FIS website.

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