Olympic Champion Fights Back Against Lundby's Weight Criticism: 'A Foolish Discussion'

German Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger has fired back at Maren Lundby’s criticism concerning the weight pressures in ski jumping. In an interview a week before the Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Wellinger stated that he believes the existing BMI limit is appropriate and that the debate over weight is a foolish one.

Lundby had recently remarked on Norwegian broadcaster NRK’s website, expressing frustration with the recurring weight pressure in the sport. She also suggested that the rules should be tightened, arguing that the majority of jumpers are too small and light, with half of the competitors deserving to be disqualified.

Wellinger, who won the normal hill event in Pyeongchang seven years ago, dismissed these views as irrelevant. He maintained that the BMI threshold, introduced in 2004 to prevent athletes from excessively cutting weight to jump farther, works as intended, even if it forces some athletes to opt for shorter skis.

Fellow jumper Karl Geiger, a multiple World Championship medalist, also expressed his support for Wellinger’s stance. Geiger pointed out that weight is one of the simplest metrics to check, emphasizing that an athlete either meets the standard or not, and that a higher BMI does not necessarily limit one’s ability to win jumps.

Both athletes seem convinced that performance in ski jumping should not be dictated solely by body weight, and that the focus should remain on the overall skill and technique of the jumper.