New York Olympic Regional Development Authority Announces Return Of FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (Olympic Authority) announces that the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup will return to the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid, February 9-11, 2024. This event joins the calendar with two additional World Cup events already confirmed for this winter season at Mt Van Hoevenberg: World Cup Luge on Dec. 8-9 and World Cup Bobsled & Skeleton on March 22-24.
“We are honored and excited to welcome back the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup to the Olympic Jumping Complex,” Olympic Authority President & CEO Michael Pratt said. “We look to build on the success of last year’s event and provide an outstanding experience for ski jumping athletes and fans – both locally and from around the world.”
Last year’s event marked the first time Lake Placid hosted a World Cup ski jumping event since 1990, and eager fans of the sport showed their appreciation by making the pilgrimage from near and far. Last year’s spectator attendance for the weekend was 15,000, with 8,000 on Saturday and 7,000 on Sunday. The Polish-American community was particularly well-represented as large groups traveled from New York metro, Chicago, Cleveland, Montreal, Toronto, Las Vegas, and other parts of the world to cheer on their heroes who came through with a victory in the inaugural Super Team event.
“We were extremely happy with how things went at last year’s World Cup in Lake Placid and see the potential for discussing a longer-term strategy,” FIS Ski Jumping Race Director Sandro Pertile said. “With beautiful weather conditions, long jumps, a super nice crowd at the bottom of the hill, and a great team working behind the scenes, we reached a very, very high result and were all very happy.”
The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event brings together the world's best men’s ski jumpers as they compete for podium finishes and points in the overall World Cup standings. Lake Placid is one stop on the World Cup tour that begins in Finland on November 11, 2023 and concludes with the traditional FIS Ski Flying final in Planica, Slovenia, in March 2024.
“The future of the U.S. Ski Jumping team is promising, and being able to hold major events in our own country provides the program with an added boost to raise further awareness and notoriety to the sport to inspire the next generation of ski jumpers,” USA Nordic Sport CEO Adam Provost said. “We are excited to get back on the hill in Lake Placid. Our jumpers made great strides last year, gaining invaluable experience competing at the highest levels in the world.”
Last year’s World Cup in Lake Placid was the first time a ski jumping World Cup had been held in the United States since 2004. Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games, hosted FIS Ski Jumping World Cups eight years in a row between 1983 and 1990. The Olympic Jumping Complex has recently undergone significant renovations, which included upgrading the jumping surface and reshaping the landing hill to meet the latest international standards required for hosting FIS World Cup-level events.
“We were very happy with the new complex, and this guides us into a big, big opportunity for the future,” Pertile said. “Lake Placid is not only a winter destination but can also be a summer destination with the plastic surface. In case of challenges with climate change, we are extremely flexible here. This is what we are looking for – we want to be able to face any kind of weather condition, and now we also have the flexibility to use the plastic material into the winter season.”
The format for this year’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup on the HS 128 jump in Lake Placid will be the same as last year, starting with a Qualification Round on Friday, followed by Individual and Super Team competitions on Saturday. The event will conclude Sunday with a second Qualification Round followed by another Individual competition. Last year’s individual winners were Andreas Wellinger of Germany and Halvor Egner Granerud of Norway, who captured the Crystal Globe awarded to the season’s overall World Cup points champion. The Polish duo of Piotr Zyla and Dawid Kubacki invigorated the crowd in Lake Placid by winning the Super Team competition.
As released in April, the Olympic Authority had record visits of more than one million to its venues during the 2022-2023 year that concluded on March 31. The record-breaking numbers came in the wake of the completion of multiple capital projects that upgraded and modernized each of the Olympic Authority’s venues. The Olympic Authority has more than 50 events scheduled for the 2023-24 winter season, including World Cups, World and National Championships, Junior Nationals, Eastern Cups and Championships, and youth hockey tournaments. The early competition season kicks off Columbus Day weekend with the men’s Continental Cup ski jumping at the Olympic Jumping Complex and the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships at the Olympic Center.
“The return of the FIS Ski jumping World Cup is a testament to the work that has been done to modernize the Olympic Authority’s venues and return them to world-class competition standards,” incoming Olympic Authority President & CEO Ashley Walden said. “This year, we are honored to host three prestigious World Cups and look forward to welcoming the world back to Lake Placid.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.olympicjumpingcomplex.com. VIP, single-day, and multiple-day options are offered, with an exclusive promotional rate of $99 for all three days available in limited quantities.
