Ski jumpers take to the skies at world champs
Man's desire to fly will touch reality this weekend when the best ski jumpers meet at the world ski flying championships in Germany, with leaps of around 250 metres expected. Slovenia's Peter Prevc covered 240 metres in a single jump on his way to winning the individual title at the last world championships in 2016 held in Austria. Now the world's best have gathered at Oberstdorf in Germany's Allgau Alps to ignore the obvious danger and soar off the 235 metre-long hill. "There is no limit," said Germany's Severin Freund, who won gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in the team large hill event. "It used to be said that no one could jump over 100 metres, because the body could not stand it. "Today, us athletes would be the first to say, we will jump 300 metres if there is a ski jump big enough." The favourite in Oberstdorf is Poland's Kamil Stoch, who recently won the Four Hills title after sweeping all four events. He faces stiff competition from Germany's Richard Freitag and Prevc. Strong winds hampered Thursday's training session and only one round could be held on the Heini-Klopfer-hill. The longest jump of 223.5m was by Norway's Daniel Andre Tande while Stoch managed 214.5m. Qualification starts on Friday afternoon with two rounds to follow and two more rounds will be held on Saturday to determine the winner. A team event is scheduled for Sunday. Austria's Stefan Kraft holds the world record with a jump of 253.5m. "A flight at 245 metres brings a wave of emotions that shoot through the body," said Germany's top ski jumper Andreas Wellinger. However, the dangers of ski flying are clear given the high speeds and extreme distances. Skiing's governing body, the FIS, has recognised the risks, especially after the 1986 world ski flying championships were marred by a series of bad injuries. Safety measures, like protective nets to lessen the impact of cross winds, were installed but in recent years the quest to 'fly' the furthest has intensified. In 2015, Prevc became the first to land a jump of 250m at Vikersund, Norway, to claim an historic milestone. In March 2017, Norway's Robert Johansson leapt a world record of 252m on home turf in Vikersund, which Kraft bettered a few minutes later by landing the current best mark of 253.5m. Yet race director Walter Hofer insists safety will come first in Oberstdorf. "We don't want to see record hunting at any price," he said. "After all, the spectators don't want to just see a black dot flying."
