Pioneer on many levels

29th January, 2003. During the official training for ski flying on the Kulm in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz landed at a distance of 200 metres. A historic moment but, alas, with no electronic distance measurement on this training day, the flight could not be officially counted as a world record.

Still, Iraschko-Stolz has more than made her mark since, winning 51 competitions in the Continental Cup, the precursor to the Women's World Cup. She also won the overall rankings three times and the newly created World Cup a further 16 times, as well as triumphing in the overall rankings in 2014/15, becoming world champion on the Normal Hill in Oslo in 2011.

Above all, however, she was a pioneer of her sport, who was not only present at the birth of the Women's World Cup, but also at the first World Championships in 2009 and who was also there when her sport celebrated its premiere at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. There she was delighted to win the silver medal. The fact that women's ski jumping is an established sport today is to a certain extent also thanks to Iraschko-Stolz.

Knee problems forced the end of this illustrious career in autumn 2023 at the age of 39. "I would have loved to carry on, but I just couldn't do it anymore," says Iraschko-Stolz, who has pledged to stay involved in ski jumping in the future and support young talents.