Olympics
Competing in the Olympics could be considered one of the most significant accomplishments of an athlete’s life. They only happen every four years, and for those who make the podium, it could change their lives forever. It isn’t easy making it to that point, and there are numerous challenges and obstacles to overcome along the way for these athletes. One challenge that ski jumpers are facing scrutiny over as the Winter Olympics approach is ensuring their ski suits pass regulations.
Ski Jumping has been plagued over the past few years with athletes wearing suits that were considered illegal by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). The suits that are worn by athletes competing in the ski jump must comply with FIS regulations, which require specific standards for material flexibility, fit, and seam integrity. It sounds simple at first; however, not all suits are made the same, as some athletes and teams have found out. The main objective of the standards for the ski jumping suits is that all athletes are competing on the same level and no one has an advantage. Some teams and athletes have been caught deliberately altering the suits to improve aerodynamics, reduce resistance, and therefore go longer distances, which is considered illegal by the FIS.
The controversies and issues with athletes and teams complying with the FIS regulations have been occurring since the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Most recently, five members of the Norwegian team were charged with ethics violations after an investigation revealed they intentionally tampered with their ski suits at the world championships in March. There was video footage and confessions by team officials that this had indeed happened. Head coach Magnus Brevik and equipment manager Adrian Livelten admitted the suits were altered only before the men’s large hill event. Two Olympic ski jumpers, Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, the two coaches, and a member of the service staff were formally charged as part of an investigation into equipment manipulation.
At the Beijing Olympic ski jumping event in 2022, multiple top athletes, including those from Germany and Japan, were disqualified due to suit irregularities and suspected foul play. Those included five female athletes, Katharina Althaus (Germany), Sara Takanashi (Japan), Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria), Anna Odine Strøm, and Silje Opseth (Norway), who were disqualified from the mixed team competition due to suit violations. However, unlike the Norwegian scandal of 2025, there was no evidence of tampering with the suits. In reality, the suits were worn by athletes for the women’s normal hill event, but were deemed too big during the inaugural mixed-team ski jumping event, passing inspection for one event, but not another. Therefore, the FIS issued no bans, and they were considered due to confusion among the teams and athletes.
This led to the FIS to implement new rules on May 8 that would investigate the potential of more profound and more fundamental changes to how ski jumping equipment, in particular the suits, is regulated and controlled. FIS Race Director for Nordic Combined, Lasse Ottesen, is leading the investigation, and it plans to present its first preliminary findings at the FIS Fall Meetings in September, in Zurich, Switzerland.
On June 12, the FIS Council approved several changes and innovations in ski jumping equipment and equipment control to be implemented in the 2025-26 season, starting with the summer’s Grand Prix for both ski jumping and nordic combined. The new system implemented is based on a yellow and red card system similar to soccer, with yellow being less severe and red being the most severe. If an athlete is disqualified for an equipment violation in the FIS card system, they will receive a yellow card. More violations by an athlete will result in a red card and suspension from the following event. Their nation also loses its quota spot in that World Cup competition. These rule modifications are to be overseen on both the men’s and women’s tours by recently appointed Coordinator of Ski Jumping Equipment Controller Jürgen Winkler and by the former ski jumper and equipment expert Mathias Hafele.
The FIS is aiming to improve how athletes’ suits are measured in 3D, which is a key change. The suits will be regulated to be a specific cut and shape that will allow fewer deviations. Specifically, the thigh measurements around the crotch leave less scope to lower the crotch with loose material, which gives athletes an unfair advantage. Gloves will also have specified thicknesses and lengths, with the fit of boots and wedges also being standardized.
One of the challenges when implementing rule changes is ensuring that all athletes, coaches, and equipment managers understand them correctly. The FIS will be offering on-site training sessions with Hafele and also online meetings to ensure all persons involved understand the rules and there are no misinterpretations. “It’s perfectly normal for teams to need some time to adapt to the new situation after such comprehensive changes to the equipment regulations. Some cope with it straight away; others find it difficult at first,” Sandro Pertile, FIS race director, told the AP. “It’s also important to highlight that these disqualifications are clearly a result of technical inadequacies. There’s no sign whatsoever of ill intent from the teams.”
The Cortina Winter Olympics are six months away, and the national teams need to be ready with the new suit regulations. The FIS said it will continue to make checks throughout the season leading up to the Olympics to ensure all suits are legal. “The teams know that they have our full support, and we expect the number of disqualifications to decrease significantly in the coming weeks,” Pertile said. “With that said, we will remain strict and precise with equipment checks the whole season long. There is no room for exceptions.”
Need to standardize everything, including ski manufacturer and length, width and construction. Even bindings and shoes have to be standardized, in order to make every thing equal as in Olympic Sailing, (which I was just involved with, including measuring equipment for conformity, ILCA6). I personally thought it was a touch over board, but every body had to rent brand new boats, sails and appendages, to make it equal, and then we still had to remeasure factory direct new products that the competitors could have slightly altered after renting the package to compete !!!
In all honesty, going to the Olympics is so expensive that it has become an elitist event of how much money you can throw at it. Just look at the triplets from Long Island ($$$) going to ski for Jamaica ! Even with these small sailboats the parents are dumping at least $110 K a year so they can compete at that level from ALL countries across the globe, we had 47 countries represented !!!