Austria's ski jumping star Eva Pinkelnig tore her cruciate ligament on the Olympic ski jump around a month ago and subsequently criticized the FIS. blue News checked in with the 37-year-old and asked her to explain the problem.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Austrian ski jumper Eva Pinkelnig suffered serious knee injuries during a summer competition on the Olympic ski jump in Pedrazzo
- The 37-year-old then criticized the FIS and said that she felt abused as a guinea pig.
- In an interview with blue News, the ski jumper explains her criticism and the various risk factors that become a problem.
Ski jumper Eva Pinkelnig suffered a serious injury in mid-September. At the Summer Grand Prix in Predazzo, Italy - the ski jump where the 2026 Olympics will take place - the 37-year-old crashed on landing and suffered a torn cruciate ligament, a torn inner and outer meniscus and cartilage damage. Her season was over and her Olympic dream was shattered.
One month after the accident, the Austrian was a guest on the ORF program "Sport am Sonntag" and said that she felt "abused as a guinea pig".
blue News caught up with the overall World Cup winner of the 2022/23 season.
How are you doing, around a month after the serious injury?
Eva Pinkelnig: Things are going well - the rehab has started well and I'm receiving the best possible support from experts in every respect at the Vorarlberg Olympic Center. Together we have designed a rehabilitation program that is primarily aimed at continuing to challenge the body as in top-class sport. My body is used to movement, the pity phase of the therapists is already over and so the healthy parts of my body are extremely challenged, but the rehabilitation of the injury is of course the main focus.
Have you already mentally come to terms with the fact that you will miss the season and therefore also the 2026 Olympics? How have you dealt with this setback?
As soon as I came out of the race, I realized that the Olympics were over and that my knee had suffered a serious injury. I've already come to terms with it mentally so far, but there will always be situations where I need to work through things further. Just when Olympic campaigns or the Ski World Cup starts, there will be days when I really "get it". I was able to get over the setback quickly, of course it's a process, but I've had setbacks before and have always been able to reorient myself with new goals and achieve them, which gives me motivation.
What was going through your mind before the jump in Predazzo? Did you have doubts and consider not jumping at all?
It was competition mode, there were no doubts. I was really keen to put in a good performance. I was well on the way to achieving my best performance again, and my first jump on the Olympic hill was a sign of my performance with the best distance.
What is the problem with the ski jump in Predazzo? What made it so difficult and dangerous?
The problem doesn't have that much to do with the ski jump in Predazzo, it's a problem with almost all newly built normal hills. The basic problem is that the flight curve of the ski jump is simply too high, especially on the landing approach, which increases the risk of injury. The hill profile has simply not developed along with the material. Material development has made ski jumping faster and more aerodynamic, and when there is also a strong tailwind on these hills, it's a rather bad combination.
After your accident, two other athletes tore their cruciate ligaments. Should the FIS have reacted earlier?
It's difficult to judge here, there was talk of a faulty construction and it was also publicly mentioned that they miscalculated. Accidents are part and parcel of top-class sport, ski jumping is a high-risk sport, and the only way to prevent these falls would have been to not hold the dress rehearsal at all, as there was already feedback from jumpers on the hill in this direction. At the competition itself, there was simply a lot of tailwind and too much inrun speed. Factors that increase the risk of falls and injuries.
Sandro Pertile, head of ski jumping at the FIS, says that the cause of the falls has more to do with the suits and not with the profile of the renovated ski jumps. What do you say to that?
I think it's unfortunately a collection of things that went wrong or interacted. A combination of many risk factors that should have been minimized by the FIS or should be minimized in the future. In our sport, there are ways to reduce the risk with the material. Unfortunately, these developments usually go in the opposite direction, and I hope that the sport will improve in the future for the athletes and their fairness and safety.
The interview was conducted in writing.
