Ski Jumper Has To Work On His Soaring

March 3, 2010 | Issue 46•08 | Onion Sports

VANCOUVER—Following a disappointing 98.5-meter effort that onlookers described as a "longish hop" or "sort of a flutter," ski jumper Hans Pavelka announced Friday that he would redouble his commitment to soaring. "I acknowledge that my soaring is not as majestic as it could be. This week it was all I could do to manage a glide," Pavelka said through an interpreter. "I have hired the soaring coach who worked with the world's best-known soarers and have booked time in the new $12 million soaring tunnel outside Ingolstadt. I promise my soaring shall be the envy of the world in 2014." Ski jumping insiders lauded Pavelka's statement, but speculated that ski jumping's movement toward more innovative forms of careening could render soaring obsolete in four years.