Female ski jumping winner gets shower gel as prize, men won over S$4,400
A woman who won a victory in a ski jumping competition ended up getting shower gel as her prize winning.
Ski jumping is a winter sport where competitors slide down a curved ramp and into the air, with distance travelled being the main criterion.
The involved event was a tournament in Germany that took place on 30 Dec 2024 for the Ski Jumping World Cup.
Male skier Jan Haerl, who finished first at one such qualifying round in the tournament, received a nice reward of 3,000 Swiss francs (around S$4,400) from the organisers.
On the women’s side, 23-year-old German skier Selina Freitag took the qualifier first place.
However, instead of the monetary prize like the men, she received toilet products.
According to the Sweden Herald, Freitag stated, “I got a bag with shower gel, shampoo, and four towels. ”
“It’s like: here, we unfortunately didn’t have 500 Euros (S$700) left over,” Freitag also said in an interview with BR24 Winter Sports.
The German skier said she did not want to complain too much but noted the clear difference in prizes.
People shocked by shower gel ski jumping prize
Many people expressed shock at the cosmetic gift Freitag received for her win.
Source: Instagram
Other netizens on social media discussed similar cases. One Reddit user claimed that their mother was a world champion water skier back in the 1950s and 1960s.
According to them, male winners got a trophy and money while female winners got kitchen appliances with their trophy instead.
Source: Reddit
A second commenter then pointed out that the winners of the 1989 Women’s Euro received tableware as their reward.
Source: Westdeutsche Zeitung
Governing body says women receive less due to lower popularity
The sport’s governing body, FIS, explained to CNN on Saturday (18 Jan) that female winners of qualifying events do not receive prize money like their male counterparts.
Source: @freitagselina on Instagram
It added that Freitag also received a voucher for a weekend of wellness treatments.
FIS explained that women’s ski jumping earned less marketing revenue, resulting in inferior prize money compared to men.
Ultimately, the women’s tournament in Germany was won by Slovenian skier Nika Prevc.
She received 4,300 Swiss francs (S$6,400) in prize money. The male winner, Daniel Tschofenig, got 13,000 Swiss francs (S$19,400), over triple the amount.
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Featured image adapted from @freitagselina on Instagram and Instagram.
