Supports Kobayashi

Ski jumping coach rages: “A team of dinosaurs!”

Ryoyu Kobayashi recently set an unofficial world record.

(Bild: AFP/APA/NTB/Geir Olsen)

Ski jumping coach Frederic Zoz has no understanding for the FIS not recognizing Ryoyu Kobayashi's record jump. The Japanese athlete's jump in Iceland could mark a turning point, says Zoz. But a "team of dinosaurs" would not recognize this. 

"It's a team of dinosaurs that doesn't move the business forward," Zoz rants against the FIS. The Frenchman is referring to the fact that the world federation does not recognize Kobayashi's 291-metre jump on a provisional hill in Iceland. 

The world federation justified its decision by stating that the jump had not taken place under competition conditions and in accordance with the FIS rules. Arguments that Zoz is not satisfied with. "Basically, I can say that the suit corresponded 98 percent to the model he had been wearing all winter in the World Cup. Any other speculation is completely wrong," the Frenchman explains to "Nordic Magazine". 

"Are at the limit"
According to the ski jumping coach, the FIS would not recognize that the Japanese athlete's jump heralded a turning point: "I think the fact that he flew 291 meters is fantastic and it opens doors and I hope that it will change our sport."

With regard to the world federation, he sees a dangerous development: "They have already killed off Nordic combined with their competition and equipment regulations. In ski jumping, too, we are at the limit with a fragile business."