In the future earlier than the Opening Ceremony on the Winter Olympics in Milan, officers from the World Anti-Doping Company addressed claims in a German tabloid that male skiers may very well be injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid to realize a bonus within the Video games.
Final month, a report within the German paper Bild instructed that male athletes have been injecting the filler into their genitalia forward of their ski leaping go well with fittings, in order that 3D scanned measurements used to evaluate their go well with sizes could be barely bigger, thus doubtlessly giving them a bonus in competitors.
“I’m not conscious of the small print of ski leaping, and the way that would enhance efficiency,” WADA director common Olivier Niggli instructed journalists in Milan when requested in regards to the claims, BBC Sport reported.
“If something was to come back to the floor, we’d take a look at it and see whether it is doping associated. We do not tackle different [non-doping] technique of enhancing efficiency,” Niggli mentioned.
Witold Banka, WADA’s Polish president, joked in response to the query: “Ski leaping could be very widespread in Poland, so I promise you, I am going to take a look at it,” BBC Sport reported.
In ski leaping, a small distinction in go well with dimension could make a big distinction in an athlete’s efficiency.
“Each further centimeter on a go well with counts,” Sandro Pertile, the boys’s race director for the Worldwide Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), mentioned in 2024. “In case your go well with has a 5% greater floor space, you fly additional.”
Mike Lawrie / Getty Pictures
Earlier than the beginning of every season, ski jumpers are measured for his or her fits by physique scanners, in keeping with BBC Sport. The foundations dictate their fits should conform to their physique measurements, inside 2 to 4 centimeters.
“There has by no means been any indication, not to mention proof, that any competitor has ever made use of a hyaluronic acid injection to try to realize a aggressive benefit,” FIS communications director Bruno Sassi instructed BBC Sport.
There have, nevertheless, been earlier cases of go well with tampering.
In August final 12 months, Norwegian Olympic medallists Johann Andre Forfang and Marius Lindvik accepted three-month suspensions for their roles in tampering with fits utilizing strengthened thread throughout the 2025 World Ski Championships, BBC Sport reported.
