Selina Freitag: Distance only means something with poise

Selina Freitag shows why a ski-jumping profile needs more than a list of victories. In 2025, the German won silver on both hill sizes at the World Championships and finished fifth in the 2025/26 World Cup. As at 22 October 2026, she had no individual World Cup win on her record. Even so, she is one of the leading athletes in her sport.

For 2026/27, Freitag is in training group Ia of the German national team. If you follow her season, it is worth looking at the sequence of several jumps and the hill used for each one. Her profile links her sporting roots in the Ore Mountains with a winter visit as a spectator.

Freitag was born in Erlabrunn and grew up in Breitenbrunn in the Ore Mountains. She competes for WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal. This places her sporting roots in a specific location. Her connection to the Ore Mountains therefore remains visible in the international World Cup.

She made her World Cup debut in February 2019. She brought medals in team events with her from the junior ranks. Later in the World Cup, she achieved success both individually and in team formats. These two levels run alongside each other in her career and should not be mixed when looking at the figures.

If you want to understand her development, start by looking at the type of result in question. A team medal is a shared achievement. An individual podium place assesses her own competition. This distinction makes her career more precise without requiring you to know every result from the past few years.

At the 2023 World Championships in Planica, Freitag won gold with the women’s team and in the mixed team. Two years later in Trondheim, she won individual silver medals on the normal and large hills. She also took team bronze. The individual medals show a range of performances across different hills.

She finished second in the 2024/25 overall World Cup and fifth the following winter. Over a longer period, both results place her among the World Cup leaders. The absence of an individual World Cup win is not concealed. It is a limit of her record so far and does not diminish her other results.

When watching, you can take this tension seriously. A successful series consists of more than the top podium place. Follow how a competition develops over its rounds and keep your attention on what is actually shown. The number of wins so far does not allow any particular result for 2026/27 to be inferred.

The organiser in Willingen has announced the World Cup for 29 to 31 January 2027. This provides a clear reference point for the German ski-jumping winter. The date information was checked on 22 October 2026. For the exact distribution of the women’s, men’s and team events, check the current schedule.

If you want to see Freitag, choose the relevant women’s event and then check the German line-up. A weekend of events with several formats is not yet confirmation of an individual start. Before booking a non-refundable trip, consider these two pieces of information together.

Oberstdorf is another important location in the Nordic winter, but its Four Hills Tournament programme must not be transferred to the women’s events without checking. If you are visiting because of Freitag, the explicitly announced women’s event remains the deciding factor. That way, your ticket is for the right competition.

Another key event is the Nordic World Championships in Falun. The organiser gives 24 February to 7 March 2027, as checked on 22 October 2026. Choose which events you want to see in person based on the programme. Personal participation depends in each case on selection by the federation.

For Willingen, the organiser publishes a stadium plan as well as information on travel and parking. Use these sources together. A ticket area determines your view and access; the journey does not end at the town sign. Especially when travelling in a group, it is worth agreeing on an entrance in advance.

For a first visit, we recommend a place from which you can follow the flight and landing as far as possible. A position directly beside the outrun brings you close to the athletes, but may restrict your view of other parts of the jump. Decide according to your interests. One position can rarely offer every perspective at the same time.

Also compare the marks awarded after the jump with your own impression. Ski jumping assesses more than distance. If you watch the same section with several athletes, the difference becomes easier to understand. The task is not to recreate a judges’ decision from the spectator area, but to read the competition more attentively.

Compare accommodation based on the actual routes to the cable car and spectator access. At a ski-jumping weekend, waiting times and the journey home after the competition also matter. Plan a day for your own skiing separately. That way, you do not have to cut your spectator visit short because equipment, lift operations and the return journey all require attention at once.

On competition day, choose one specific aspect to observe, such as the final flight phase before landing. Follow it across several athletes and then read the marks. Freitag’s next jump will then have a concrete context, even if you arrive at the hill without complete knowledge of all her previous season results.