Possible Four Hills Tournament for female ski jumpers: Better money than shower gel

AWhen Selina came to the hotel bar “The Old Monk” in the center of Engelberg on the Saturday before Christmas, the question about the shower gel was already there. “That was so clear,” said the 24-year-old from Erlabrunn in the Ore Mountains, rolled her eyes, sat down and took off her cap. She didn’t want to slip into the role of a ski jumper who not only fights for distances, but also for equality. But she has held this role since New Year’s Eve 2024.

For her qualifying victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Freitag did not receive any prize money like the men, but rather the aforementioned shower gel and four towels. She then described this fact in the ARD interview and added: “I don’t want to complain too much about it, but you can see the differences.” Because the men’s qualification winner Jan Hörl was able to look forward to 3,000 Swiss francs. And Friday had sparked a big discussion with just a few sentences.

It wasn’t a new debate. Equal pay, equal TV presence, and the question of equal rights in general is an age-old issue in women’s professional sports. The Gender Pay Gapthe financial gap between the genders, is still huge in many sports. Disciplines like biathlon, in which the same prize money is paid out for women and men, are by no means the norm; In tennis, this is at least the case in the Grand Slam tournaments. Particularly in team sports such as club football or handball, the gap is exorbitantly wide. Also because the reach and ratings, marketing and advertising revenue are not that great compared to men. These are some of the hard factors that determine pay. Also in ski jumping.

“It’s a bit annoying for us because we train the same way all summer, perform the same way, sacrifice the same amount of time to perform in the winter,” said Selina Freitag in Engelberg. Women’s jumping is becoming more and more similar to men’s jumping: so why not the pay? Teammate Katharina Schmid, the seven-time world champion, who announced her retirement at the end of the season on Saturday, agrees: “I would also like to understand why this is still the case, because I believe that we show great sport.”

From the 2026/2027 season onwards, the women’s World Cup calendar will be more closely linked to that of the men

The prize money for ski jumpers for a World Cup victory has been increased slightly from 4,300 to 5,000 euros compared to last season. But the men’s allowance was also increased: from 13,000 to 15,000 euros for the winner of a World Cup. The current best earner, Domen Prevc from Slovenia, has prize money of almost 145,000 francs this winter before the start of the Four Hills Tournament – the similarly successful Japanese Nozomi Maruyama, also a World Cup leader, has just under 53,000 euros, or barely more than a third. At the World Cup in Trondheim at the beginning of 2025, the bonuses were at least distributed equally. Record world champion Schmid recently said in Engelberg: “I think the biggest gap we still have is the prize money. That’s a pretty big step, but not the last step. More would have to happen so that we are really equal.”

At least something is happening, both small and large. This time, the women will receive 3,175 euros for a qualifying victory on the Two-Nights Tour, while the overall winner will receive 10,000 euros (the winner of the Four Hills Tournament, however, will receive 100,000 euros). The Two-Nights Tour, introduced in 2023, is the – much smaller – women’s counterpart to the men’s Four Hills Tournament; the two competitions take place on December 31st in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and on January 1st in Oberstdorf. And new doors may open there from the 2026/27 season.

Spotlights will then be installed at the Bergisel in Innsbruck, the only tour ski jump without floodlights. This was recently decided. The floodlights would also give the women more scope and the path to their Four Hills Tournament would be paved. “Innsbruck should be on our calendar, and Bischofshofen too. Why shouldn’t we women jump there?” asks the Austrian Lisa Eder rhetorically: “I think that the attention has increased incredibly in the last five or six years.”

Even if further resistance would have to be overcome. For example, there is a World Cup competition for women in Villach; this time on the 5th/6th. January 2026; That would then have to give way or be postponed for the final Four Hills Tournament stop in Bischofshofen. There is also the question of whether two Four Hills Tournaments running in parallel are logistically feasible – especially given that capricious weather cannot be ruled out. Hotel capacity is also an issue. One option currently being discussed would be to hold the women’s competitions on the men’s qualification day. In any case, the trend is positive. Austria’s women’s national coach Thomas Diethart says: “The women definitely deserve it, they’ve been fighting for more for a long time.”

There should definitely be more competitions in the medium term. From the 2026/2027 season onwards, the women’s World Cup calendar will be more closely linked to that of the men. It should then become the rule that ski jumpers are in the same place on the same day, similar to biathlon – and thus attract more attention to themselves. It would be a further step towards fairer treatment of female ski jumpers.

And as far as the shower gel is concerned: the organizers could provide men and women with a few care products – in addition to the same financial reward. Otherwise, women’s national coach Heinz Kuttin also has a clear stance on this story: “For me it’s good that this was brought up last year. That triggered a lot of positive things.” Even if Selina Freitag constantly has to answer questions about equality.