Barents ski jumper opened the new Holmenkollen ski jump
25 years old Anette Sagen from Mosjøen, Nordland County, was given the honor to open the new Holmenkollen ski jump stadium in Oslo yesterday.
The length of the first official jump was 106.5 meters.
Anette Sagen is one of the best female ski jumpers of all time. She received much media attention in 2004, when she was denied the opportunity to jump K185 in the Vikersund ski flying hill, in spite of her good results, according to Wikipedia. The struggle was over whether the quality of female ski jumpers was high enough to allow women to jump in these venues, but the debate soon developed into a struggle over women’s rights in the world of sports.
When Anette Sagen finally was allowed to jump in the Vikersund ski flying hill, she jumped 174.5 meters.
Ski jumping for women is still not part of the program of the Winter Olympics.
Anette Sagen held the record in the old Holmenkollen ski jump with 131 meters. The record for men at the same stadium was 136 meters.
