In the series "FIS Ski Jumping-Talk" we present interviews with ski jumping athletes and officials. Today: Chika Yoshida, FIS Race Director for the ladies' World Cup.

FIS Ski Jumping: How satisfied are you as Race Director with the FIS Grand Prix of the ladies this summer?

Chika Yoshida: I'm very satisfied. We had more competitions than last season and despite the dominance of Sara Takanashi all of the competitions were very exciting.

FIS Ski Jumping: From a sporting point of view, there is a gap behind Sara Takanashi, but many different athletes were fighting for the places behind her. Do you expect a similar situation in winter?

Yoshida: That's hard to predict. You never know what will happen. The competitions in summer, don't necessarily have to be an indicator for what happens in winter. Not all the athletes were competing in summer. But I'm pretty sure that it will be a great World Cup season with very exciting competitions.

FIS Ski Jumping: What do you still have to do before the start of the World Cup season?

Yoshida: The traditional fall meetings of the FIS in Zurich are coming up. There the final arrangements in all FIS disciplines are made before the start of the World Cup season. Before and after that I will also visit some World Cup venues and organizers for inspections.

FIS Ski Jumping: Are there any changes of the rules for the upcoming World Cup, for example concerning the equipment?

Yoshida: No, everything will be the same as it already was in summer.

FIS Ski Jumping: To which competitions are you looking forward to the most?

Yoshida: To all the competitions of course (laughs). I'm looking forward to welcoming a new organizer in the Ladies' World Cup with Lahti. There the World Championships will take place 2017. Also Almaty and Nizhniy Tagil, both already hosted FIS Grand Prix events, are on the World Cup calendar for the first time. There will be a first night event in Zao and in Ljubno I'm looking forward to the renovated and modernized hill. There's so much new!

FIS Ski Jumping: The large hill competition in Oslo will not be the season final, it will take place earlier this time. Are still only the Top 30 allowed to participate?

Yoshida: Yes, there we rely on the established system with the best ladies of the World Cup.

FIS Ski Jumping: Where is there no mixed team competition in the calendar?

Yoshida: Of course it would be nice to have a mixed team event in the World Cup again. But unfortunately no organizer or nation applied to host such an event and we can only carry out a competition when there is an application for it.

FIS Ski Jumping: Thanks a lot for the interview and all the best for the final preparations before the season!

Source: fis-ski.com