FIS spring meetings started: After the winter is before the winter

As soon as the Ski Jumping season is over, the preparations for the upcoming competitions in summer (Grand Prix) and in the 2022/23 winter season start. The FIS Ski Jumping Sub Committee for Equipment and Development met in Zurich on Saturday, some of the members were present for this meeting, and others participated online.

Discussions and decisions about various adjustments to the rules and regulations regarding the athletes' competition equipment were on the agenda there. The decisions made by the Sub-Committee on Saturday will be presented as proposals to the FIS Ski Jumping Committee at its meetings in May. If the proposals are confirmed by the Committee they will be integrated into the Ski Jumping rules for the future.

Among other things, the rules regarding the mounting of the safety bindings on the skis were defined. Following this precision, a binding that was used last winter and caused lots of discussions during the season is now not allowed anymore due to safety concerns of the commission of experts.

The commission of experts also had a to discuss when it comes to the jumping boots after various modifications caused controversy and even disqualifications last winter. Regarding the boots, the rules were also specified and a working group, consisting of FIS experts, manufacturers, the athlete representative Jernej Damjan (SLO), and the Polish member of the Sub-Committee, Lukasz Kruczek, was founded. This working group will meet on April 13th to further discuss the issue and work on a final proposal.

Similar to the boots, there will also be a working group regarding the tip of the skis which will meet on April 26th and also submit a proposal to the Ski Jumping Committee.

It's also planned to make adjustments to the wind-gate compensation. For the rule, which was first implemented in 2009, the compensation factor for tailwind was adjusted by 21% in 2013, now there shall be another adjustment to 50 %.
"This became necessary due to various factors regarding the equipment, higher speeds, and the jumping technique in order to bring the compensations points closer to the reality", explained Borek Sedlak, who was in charge of the project during the past months. "The athletes will get higher compensation points for tailwind, which will increase the fairness in difficult conditions", he added.
The higher factor, like other changes, will be tested in the competitions of the Grand Prix 2022 and might then be implemented for the upcoming winter season.

In addition, other topics that were discussed, like a possible limitation of the number of jumping suits per athlete and season and relocation of the equipment control might become issues for the Sub-Committee, but not before spring 2023-

"It was an intense and good meeting. We set the course for the future", said FIS Race Director Sandro Pertile, who was satisfied with the results of the meetings in Zurich.