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Ski Jumping Continental Cup opens in Stams
80 starters from 16 nations along with the officials and spectators spent a literally steaming weekend at the opening Continental Cup competitions in Stams (AUT) on 30th June-1st July.
With daily temperatures rising to 33 degrees centigrade, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes (CAN) scored his first career victory on Saturday, followed by a home triumph of Lukas Müller (AUT) on Sunday.
In the background of the high-level competition, the premiere of the new, closer fitting ski jumping suits was a feature of the weekend..
FIS Newsflash spoke to Sepp Gratzer, responsible FIS material controller to gain better insight:
FIS Newsflash: There were a total of 29 disqualifications due to the new suit regulations - disqualifying this many athletes is relatively uncommon, isn’t it?
Sepp Gratzer: “On the list, it appears more spectacular than it really is. Given the launch of the new requirements, this is a normal quota. For both the teams and athletes, it takes a while to adapt to the new circumstances. Nobody has yet gained experience with the new suits but the situation is sure to progress smoothly in the coming weeks.”
FIS Newsflash: The measurements are clearly defined in the rules. Isn’t it possible to stick to these when producing new suits?
Sepp Gratzer: “This is not an easy task. It’s a fact that, for example, these suits stretch after a few jumps and do not return to their initial shape. This may happen after 10 or only after 50 jumps. It is now in the hands of the service staff and athletes to figure this out.
Secondly, we have to consider that these suits are produced at the maximum limit. All teams push to the edge when new rules are introduced. This is normal for such innovations but may quickly lead to disqualifications as soon as suit sizes are over the limit.
This past competition weekend has shown in particular that it is no one’s intention to break the rules, but simply demonstrated a lack of experience with the new rules. To give an example, on the first competition day, five Austrian athletes were disqualified, but allowed to compete again on the second day as their ski jumping suits then conformed to the new regulations. This shows how quickly a learning process can take place.”
Gratzer concluded: “We are happy to use the summer as a testing phase which will see continued progress throughout the next COC and Grand Prix events.”