Eva Ganster

Eva Ganster (born 30 March 1978) is an Austrian former ski jumper. She has nine women's ski flying world records, set between 1994 and 1997.

Eva Ganster
Ganster in Oslo, 2005
Country Austria
Born (1978-03-30) 30 March 1978
Kitzbühel, Austria
Personal best167 m (548 ft)
Kulm, 9 Feb 1997
Updated on 20 May 2015.

Early life

Ganster was born in Kitzbühel to parents Edgar and Dagmar Ganster.[1] She has a younger brother, Axel. Eva began skiing at a very early age. At age ten she began ski jumping, competing alongside boys of the same age. During the 1990–91 Austrian National Championship season, she beat the boys in her age group to place first. However, she broke her foot and was unable to attend the World Youth Games.[2]

Career

In 1993, Ganster placed third at the Austrian National Championships in St. Agyd.[1] It was here, in 1994, that she made her first world record jump of 113.5 metres (372 ft) in Lillehammer. Also in 1994, she became the first woman to "pre-jump" at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Since then, women have competed under the auspices of the Women's Ski Jumping Working Group which was formed by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in 1994.[3]

Ganster suffered setbacks in back-to-back seasons in 1995 and 1996, but with the advent of separate women's competitions she was able to begin to succeed again.[2] On the ski flying hill in Kulm, she improved her world record by an unprecedented six times (an amount since unmatched by any woman or man) to a final figure of 167 metres (548 ft) on 9 February 1997.[4] The women's world record would remain hers for another six years until Daniela Iraschko-Stolz landed a jump of 188 metres (617 ft) on 29 January 2003.

In 1998, Ganster won the National Championships and she was placed second in the World Junior Championships.[1] The International Ski Federation formally approved Ladies Grand Prix competitions the following year.[5] In 2000 and 2001, Ganster placed second at the National Championships; she won the event in 2002.[1]

From 2003 to 2005, Ganster competed regularly in FIS events. In 2004, she won one event in Pöhla and medalled at several others.[6] Her final competitive ski jump at international level was in Oslo on 12 March 2005, where she placed eighth.[6] She never formally represented her country in Olympic ski jumping, which did not become an official Olympic sport for women until 2014,[7] when Carina Vogt won the first Gold medal.[8]

References
  1. Eva Ganster Archived 2015-05-22 at the Wayback Machine, LadiesSkiJumping.com, retrieved 31 January 2014.
  2. Eva Ganster. "Lebenslauf" (in German). Archived from the original on 6 March 2005.
  3. Timeline of Women's ski jumping, wsjusa.com, retrieved 31 January 2014.
  4. Ladies' ski jumping Archived 2014-02-10 at the Wayback Machine, skijumping-info.com, retrieved 31 January 2014.
  5. History of Ski Jumping, retrieved January 2014.
  6. Eva Ganster, FIS, retrieved 31 January 2014.
  7. Women's ski jumping takes aim at the Olympics, SkiingHistory.org, retrieved 31 January 2014.
  8. "Ski Jumping Schedule and Results". SOOC. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
Records
Preceded by
Merete Kristiansen
111 m (364 ft)		 World's longest female ski jump
167 m (548 ft)
9 February 1997 – 29 January 2003		 Succeeded by
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz
188 m (617 ft)
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