Two Nights Tour
Mini tour as a “consolation”: female ski jumpers in Garmisch
The ski jumpers hope that a Four Hills Tournament will soon be introduced. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
Still not a tour, but a trip over two stops. Start in Garmisch, end in Oberstdorf: Then it’s over again for the ski jumpers at the traditional locations.
Katharina Schmid spoke of a “Consolation”. For the three-time ski jumping world champion, the Two Nights Tour, which the organizers like to abbreviate as “TNT”, should be more than that.
Namely the next step on the way to equality with men. First two stations, then soon four: That’s the plan of Schmid and Co., who are taking part in the newly designed format for the first time in Garmisch-Partenkirchen today.
Team has to improve
“I’m really looking forward to the Two Nights Tour, even though it’s not yet a Four Hills Tournament for us – I almost can’t hear myself saying it anymore. Hopefully it will still be two great competitions. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is our first time in the calendar, we’ve never had a World Cup there before,” said Schmid, formerly Althaus, before the start. In addition, the New Year’s jumping in Oberstdorf is something special.
The German team has to improve significantly after a false start in sport. “Our athletes are all in good spirits. We looked again at what didn’t work so well in the first two World Cups. We worked on the jumping technique accordingly,” said coach Thomas Juffinger. Before Christmas, 6,500 tickets for both competitions had been sold together. However, the organizers are expecting a large number of sales at the box office.