A female ski jumper was given a gift bag with personal hygiene products for winning first place at a World Cup ski jumping event while her male counterpart received a cash prize.
Selina Freitag, 23, competed at the Two-Night Ski Jumping Tour in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, at the end of December. When she finished in first place in qualifying, she received a bag containing shampoo, lotion and towels.
The winner in the male division, Jan Hoerl, received 3,000 Swiss francs (about $3,290), according to CNN.
Freitag opened up about the experience in an interview with German broadcaster BR24, saying, “It was like, ‘Here, we unfortunately didn’t have 500 euros left over.’ I don’t want to complain too much about it, but you can see the differences.”
PEOPLE reached out to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, as well as reps for the Two-Night Jumping Tour and Selina Freitag, but did not immediately receive a response.
In a statement to CNN, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, also known as FIS, confirmed that female winners of qualifying events do not receive a cash prize.
The organizing body told the outlet that the gift bag also included a voucher for wellness treatments. They insisted that the prize “was certainly well intentioned, but it is understandable that it may have generated frustration and given a bad impression if seen as formal compensation for the victory. This was not the case.”
FIS added that women’s ski jumping brings in less interest and revenue than its male counterpart.
Her Sport — an organization whose mission is to use sport to empower, inspire and educate women and girls — weighed in on the issue on social media, saying it “highlights the inequalities that still exist in sport to this day.”
“Selina’s achievement deserves to be celebrated with the same respect and rewards as her male counterparts,” Her Sport continued.
The organization criticized any mention of “revenue generation,” writing that “revenue doesn’t grow in a vacuum. It starts with investment and commitment to bridging the gap. Without equity as the foundation, it’s easy to make excuses for why things can’t change.”
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In December 2021, German broadcaster DW News reported that women’s ski jumping was growing in popularity. That year, the outlet wrote that FIS gave about €67,000 per individual competition to the winning male ski jumpers during the World Cup season, while women only received €24,000 per event.
At the time, Freitag said of the discrepancy, “There has always been a lot said, but still too little done.”
The ski jumper has competed at the World Cup level since the 2018-2019 season. At the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, she placed 22nd in the women’s individual event and ninth in the mixed team event.
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