Speech, World Record | 291 meters is the new world record in jumping, regardless of what FIS thinks! The record is not good news for the hill owners

The new world record in jumping is 291 metres. It is admittedly not officially approved, but the public does not care about that and does not sponsor it. Maybe the record during the day today is 300 meters? Who knows where this will end?

What we do know is that Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi broke the current world record on Wednesday with 37.5 meters on a monster hill in Iceland, which was made especially for the record attempt. The official men’s world record of 253.5 meters was set by Stefan Kraft in Vikersundbakken on March 18, 2017. The International Ski Federation (FIS) refuses to approve Kobayashi’s jump, but among all those who follow the sport of jumping, there is no doubt; this is a new world record.

It was the giant Red Bull that was central to the financing of the monster hill in Iceland. They probably didn’t just do it for the fun of it. They see a marketing potential in the stunt and perhaps they think that they should do more of this and thus build more such slopes? Why run a world cup and deal with intricate rules, when you can let the person who jumps the farthest win and collect a few million kroner in prizes as well?

Anyway: what they proved is that jumping 300 meters on skis and certainly even further is not associated with any great danger. Now I’m not a keen show jumping judge and have never sat on a jury in any show jumping race, but what I saw was fascinating, but it still didn’t look very dangerous.

The pursuit of records has always been a motivation for the best in any sport. The public also loves records. There have been fewer and fewer spectators at show jumping as the world record is difficult to beat on today’s slopes. Arne Scheie and other jumping enthusiasts must excuse us; jumps are often very boring to watch. It’s glistening in the stands. Just look at the pictures from Holmenkollsøndagen in recent years. The arena that was once packed to capacity is today visited by a few, thoughtful enthusiasts. Jumping in Holmenkollen is like watching a downhill race in alpine skiing where the athlete was not allowed to drive faster than 50 km/h.

Not even in Vikersundbakken is there crowding among the public. This year there were simply very few people present. Now bad weather has to take some of the blame for that too, but advance ticket sales were poor. People get easily blasé and it is not so fascinating to watch a jump of 230 meters if you have seen it 100 times earlier in your life. It can easily become a bit “been there, done that.” Therefore, the sport must either renew itself or make the events smaller in order to save money.

The girls are a breath of fresh air into the sport. They play easily even on the biggest slopes and at the same time show the finger to old FIS pamps in nickers and “proper” jackets that reminisce about the time when men jumped on skis, while the women were hostesses during the award ceremony.

The traditional jumping competitions are no longer a crowd magnet as they once were. Therefore, what happened in Iceland was resilient and boundary-breaking, while at the same time it was not good news for today’s hill owners in the World Cup.

It is FIS that holds the key to changing the regulations and allowing larger slopes. But not all organizers have the money to expand. As a result, FIS will probably be pressured into strict moderation, while actors such as Red Bull see potential. But the sport of show jumping has to be modernized in one way or another, otherwise it will slowly but surely become irrelevant for sponsors and for the public.

Ski flying is not the roughest thing you can do with skis on your feet within traditional winter sports. It’s downhill and Super G, because there are no speed limits and someone always lands in the safety net. There are many varieties of extreme sports with skis on your feet, which attract the public and sponsors. Snowboards and those driving down steep mountain sides are two examples. Millions of people follow them via live streaming and on videos on social media. You must not show up with a rucksack, thermos and packed lunch to follow them. Biathlon is an extreme sport because something unexpected can always happen. The first man into the stand can go out again as number ten. There is a battle for seconds and there is a fight between woman against woman and man against man on the shooting range.

The packaging has a lot to say. A series that catches on on Netflix can do wonders for interest. Just look at Formula 1, which has really been boosted by the Netflix series “Drive to Survive”. Young people have devoured the series. I talk to young people who barely know the name of a Norwegian jumper and who never watch showjumping on TV, but who have heroes called Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Jumping has become very technical and probably completely incomprehensible to the common man and woman. Hearing the expert commentators on TV is like attending a lecture on the civil engineering course in the final year. Lengths on skis, weight measurements and stride lengths on jump suits, wind corridors – subtract points here and add points there. It gets too involved. Introverted male jumpers who don’t smile in the TV window are also not helping to create a buzz. Jumping needs a Petter Northug type.

The public wants to see long jumps and unfortunately there are far too few of them. We get bored easily in an age when the entertainment options are vast and easily accessible. A boring ski jump is worth its weight in gold for YouTube, TikTok and everything else you can entertain yourself with. It’s more cool to follow the World Cup round in Formula 1 than to wait for the next mare to land safely at 225 metres. It doesn’t cost very much to watch Formula 1 either.

That’s how ruthless the entertainment industry is today. It’s been a long time since someone laughed at Leif Juster when he said “puppleuppen” on the revue stage and people laughed because the comment was on the edge. Today, you must have slept with 12 people in three days at the Paradise Hotel before anyone yawns. This is how the world has become and it is a big problem for those who want to sell traditional entertainment.