site.bta2022 Winter Olympics: Ski Jumper Vladimir Zografski Worried by Weather Conditions

February 4 (BTA special correspondent Dimitar Veliov) - Bulgarian ski jumper Vladimir Zografski is worried by the volatile weather conditions at the Zhangjiakou Olympic Village before Saturday's ski jumping normal hill qualification event. The Bulgarian athlete performed his final three practice jumps on Friday, the first of which was delayed twice by strong crosswind.

Zografski's second attempt of 91.0 m was his best, ranking him 28th. He jumped 82.0 m (rank 37) and 84.0 m (rank 32) in the first and third attempts, respectively.

"It is quite windy, and the wind tends to change directions quite fast, so I will also need a lot of luck. The hill is interesting, I had never glided down a similar one before. The feeling is different because of the altitude, there is no pressure under my skis, but I still have time to adapt," said Zografski. He said things in general are going smoothly. He is feeling well and hopes to perform two good jumps on Saturday.

Many athletes skipped doing all their practice jumps. Some of the favourites skipped practice altogether, including Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud, silver medallist from the 2021 World Championships, his fellow countryman and Olympic gold medallist Daniel Andre Tande, and 40-year-old Swiss veteran and winner of four individual Olympic gold medals Simon Ammann.