PREDAZZO, Italy – Skiing’s regulatory body dismissed it as a “wild rumour” on Friday, reporting that ski jumpers are enlarging their groin area to gain distance as the Winter Olympics starts.
A report from German tabloid Bild last month suggested that some ski jumpers injected hyaluronic acid into their genitals or wore a condom-like sheath before undergoing strict checks on the size of their ski suits. The newspaper said the manipulation would justify wearing a larger ski jumping suit that could provide more lift and a longer flight to capture medals.
The report gained international attention this week after World Anti-Doping officials, in Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, suggested they were willing to investigate the case if it was linked to doping.
The International Ski Federation FIS – the governing body for ski jumping – rejected the claims in the report on Friday.
“This wild rumor started a few weeks ago on pure hearsay,” FIS spokesman Bruno Sassi told The Associated Press. “There has never been any indication, let alone evidence, that a competitor has ever used a hyaluronic acid injection in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.”
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The Bild report went largely unnoticed internationally until Olivier Niggli, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked about it in Milan on Thursday.
“If something came to the surface, we would look at it and see if it is doping related. We don’t do other ways to improve performance,” Niggli told reporters.
The suggestion of such manipulation quickly became a media sensation, with some reports asking medical experts to highlight the wisdom of injecting the acid naturally produced in the body that lubricates joints and is used in moisturizers.
Asked to clarify whether WADA is investigating the matter, spokesman James Fitzgerald told the AP on Friday that hyaluronic acid was not on the list of banned substances and referred to the FIS for issues with ski jumping suits.
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The topic is particularly sensitive to ski jumping in the aftermath of a cheating scandal Last year, Norwegian team leaders were caught on camera manipulating ski suits during the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway.
Head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben and staff member Adrian Livelten were recently Excluded from the sport for 18 months for tampering with the suits before the big men’s hill event.
Norwegian ski jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang accepted three-month suspensions allowing them to compete in this season’s events.
In the wake of the scandal, the FIS introduced stricter equipment checks, including checks before and after each jump, and improved 3D measurements to assess athletes in their uniforms. Microchips embedded in suits are also designed to prevent tampering.
