Winter Olympics 2026: Ready to fly – Frida Westman on giant leap forward for women ski jumpers

Another sacrifice Westman had to make was to leave her home in Örnsköldsvik – a birthplace she shares with Olympic curler Niklas Edin – and move to Trondheim.

It meant the end of an irreplaceable coaching relationship – with her father, Magnus Westman, who competed at the 1992 and 1994 Olympics.

The nine-hour train journey is a distance Westman feels keenly.

“He’s always been my biggest supporter in ski jumping,” she says. “And he always wanted me to follow my dream.

“He was my coach since I was a kid until I moved to Trondheim. He also loved ski jumping, but he always said I have a higher level in me than he had.”

Moving on up

Örnsköldsvik, like World Cup venue Falun, is one of Sweden’s ski jump hubs. But Westman says the move had to be made.

“Many years ago we had a lot of good jumpers in Sweden like Jan Boklöv, but then the environment started to die out. So when I started ski jumping, the environment was not so good.

“There’s a lot of good ski jumpers here in Norway. You have to be with good people and good ski jumping to always want to be better.”

With women now able to start from the same height as men at Milano Cortina, female ski jumping can only get better as well.

“Women competing in the big hill in Milano is going to be very exciting,” says Westman, who has had her best results this season on the Large Hill. She didn’t get through to the Normal Hill final after the first round on Saturday (7 February).

“To go from the K90 to the big one now and the Olympics is going to be more extreme. The flying part is so much longer.”

Beyond being in contention for a medal at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium, there is one more milestone Westman is aiming for.

“I want to fly longer than my dad,” she says.

“He has done 167 metres, I think. But my goal is to jump over 200.” 

If she does it, no one will be happier than him.