WADA to investigate unusual doping allegations in skiing
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has confirmed it will examine allegations that male ski jumpers at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics may be injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to gain a competitive edge, reports BritPanorama.
The extraordinary claims, first reported by German publication Bild in January, suggest athletes may be temporarily enlarging their genitalia before official body measurements to secure larger competition suits.
This scandal has cast a shadow over the Games, which officially commence on Friday. Men’s ski jumping events are scheduled to begin on Monday, with WADA officials now facing questions about a practice that could represent an entirely novel form of performance enhancement.
The rationale behind such extreme measures lies in the physics of ski jumping. Research published in the scientific journal Frontiers demonstrated that a mere two-centimetre increase in suit circumference can reduce drag by four percent while boosting lift by five percent. Such modifications could translate to approximately 5.8 additional metres in jump distance.
FIS ski jumping men’s race director Sandro Pertile underscored the significance of suit specifications: “Every extra centimetre on a suit counts. If your suit has a 5 percent bigger surface area, you fly further.” Athletes undergo 3D body scanning before each season, wearing only tight-fitting underwear during measurements.
The allegations are compounded by troubling precedents from last year’s World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, where Norwegian Olympic medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang accepted three-month suspensions after their team was found to have covertly modified suit seams around the crotch area. Head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten received lengthier 18-month bans for orchestrating the scheme, incorporating reinforced thread into jumpsuits to create a sail-like effect that extended flight distance.
Both suspended athletes are set to compete at these Winter Olympics. WADA’s director general Olivier Niggli confirmed that the agency would scrutinise any formal complaints, although he admitted unfamiliarity with the sport’s technical intricacies. “I’m not aware of the details of ski jumping – and how this can improve – but if anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping related,” he stated.
His Polish counterpart, WADA president Witold Banka, responded with evident amusement: “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I’m going to look at it.”
Notably, hyaluronic acid remains a legal substance in competitive sport, with injections potentially lasting up to 18 months.
