New Country Wants to Host Ski Jumping World Cup! Confirmation from the Top

Ski jumping is witnessing a significant expansion into China. This year, both the Continental Cup and the Women's World Cup are scheduled to take place in Zhangjiakou. World Cup Director Sandro Pertile expressed optimism in an interview with TVP Sport, stating that he expects a Men's World Cup event to be held in the country soon. This information surfaced following a competition in Ruka, where a Chinese competitor broke a nearly two-decade-long drought of athletes qualifying for such events.

The Zhangjiakou ski jumping hill is preparing to host these events. Although Chinese athletes have occasionally competed in the World Cup, no event of this highest caliber has previously taken place there. The World Cup circuit regularly visits Japan and has previously included South Korea and Kazakhstan. The Chinese have hosted ski jumping at the Olympic Games, and plans were once in place to hold a World Cup event a few years ago, but were thwarted by the pandemic. New developments are now underway.

During the competition in Ruka last week, Adam Bucholz from SkiJumping.pl calculated that the Chinese athlete Song Qiwu managed to qualify for the World Cup, ending a streak of 6888 days without a fellow countryman qualifying. Qiwu outperformed notable athletes including Norway's Robert Johansson and Slovenia's Kilian Peier. It has been 18 years since a Chinese competitor last qualified at Sapporo in 2006, though Qiwu has previously earned points at the Summer Grand Prix in 2021.

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