Eva Pinkelnig angry

“Abused as a guinea pig”!

Eva Pinkelnig(Bild: GEPA pictures / x.com/screenshot)

One month after tearing her cruciate ligament on the Olympic normal hill in Predazzo, ski jumper Eva Pinkelnig is optimistic about the future! However, the Vorarlberg native had no warm words for the International Ski Federation (FIS) in an interview with ORF. In view of the known problems with the ski jump, she criticized the negligent treatment of the athletes. "Simply chasing us down under time pressure" was absolutely the wrong decision.

Pinkelnig, overall World Cup winner in 2022/23, felt "abused as a guinea pig", the 37-year-old explained on the Sport am Sonntag program. "We now know that the profile of the hill is difficult. The FIS race director himself has spoken of a faulty design. (...) Why aren't we being informed?" said Pinkelnig. "It's always talked about, we athletes are the center of attention."

As is well known, Pinkelnig was not the only victim of the new facilities; Canada's star Alexandria Loutitt and Nordic combined athlete Haruka Kasai from Japan, the latter on the large hill, also suffered cruciate ligament ruptures on the same weekend. "Does it take three seriously injured athletes or two on this hill and only one on the hill next to it (...) to know that something is wrong?"

"I will still achieve a little bit"
 Pinkelnig, in her own words "a highly sensitive person", also gave an insight into her emotional life before and after the accident. "To be honest, I wished for a change inside," she said, citing "too little time for personal development" or "too little focus on how we are as people" as shortcomings in competitive sport. "In terms of the environment, in terms of understanding, we unfortunately often failed to communicate with each other. During this whole process, I simply realized that I was losing myself to some extent."

In any case, the rehab is going well and the thought of returning to sport is there. Even if the 2026 Olympics are not an option and the 2030 Games would come too late for her. "It's just not meant to be. But that's completely okay. I've achieved so much else. And I think I'll still achieve a bit more."