Dimension at all times issues.
Inform that to Austrian ski jumper Daniel Tschofenig — who noticed his gold medal goals dashed all as a result of his ski boots had been too large.
Tschofenig, a World Cup winner, fell foul of the foundations by simply 4 millimeters.
The athlete, 23, tried out some new boots whereas practising however seemingly didn’t test in the event that they met the necessities.
“I used new sneakers in coaching, which, by the best way, I wasn’t very proud of, however I saved them,” he instructed AFP.
“Sadly I used to be naive and I didn’t test the sizes. That was extremely silly of me.”
Tschofenig comfortably certified for Saturday’s remaining however that was earlier than his error grew to become obvious.
He got here into the Winter Olympics, having received the 2024-25 Ski Leaping World Cup and the 4 Hills Event.
Jernej Damjan, a former Slovenian ski jumper, wasted no time in making a joke on the Austrian’s expense.
“Tschofenig lastly discovering one thing further and when he does, he will get kicked out,” he quipped.
Slovenian ace Domen Prevc, 26, received the gold medal at Milano Cortina, defying the moist situations to defeat rivals Ren Nikaido, of Japan, and Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak.
He completed forward of the Japanese jumper by 6.8 factors.
Forward of the Winter Olympics, reviews, which appeared within the German newspaper Bild, claimed some ski jumpers enhanced their groin to enhance efficiency and achieve an fringe of their rivals.
It was alleged some athletes would flip to injecting hyaluronic acid which might assist them fly additional. An enlarged genital space would enable ski jumpers to put on greater fits.
Final yr, two Norwegian ski jumpers had been discovered with further material close to the crotches of their fits.
And, a probe discovered that the group had made unlawful changes to the apparel.
To crack down on dishonest, bosses on the Worldwide Ski and Snowboard Federation rolled out a set of recent sanctions.
A number of the measures included superior 3D physique and go well with measurements, redesigned fits to stop tampering and microchips within the material that test for any manipulation
Athletes disqualified for an gear violation can be issued with a yellow card.
They’d then obtain a pink card for any subsequent violation. They’d even be disqualified from a future occasion.
Annika Belshaw, from Staff USA, was additionally booted out of the Olympic remaining after her skis had been one centimeter too lengthy.
With Publish wires
