UPDATED 2/6/25 at 4:04 pm ET – Communications director of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation Bruno Sassi called reports that ski jumpers may be injecting hyaluronic acid into their private parts “wild rumor” that started “a few weeks ago as pure hearsay,” according to a report on Friday, February 6. People.
Sassi added that after the cheating scandal that rocked the 2025 World Ski Championships, in which two Norwegian athletes were found to be wearing altered suits, the Olympics added anti-cheating policies, including “strict rules that include checks before and after each jump.”
First story below.
Ski jumping is all about seeing how far a skier can fly, and at the Olympics, some competitors may have found a cure for their projectile malfunction.
Anti-doping chiefs at Italy’s 2026 Winter Olympics are investigating allegations that ski jumpers injected hyaluronic acid into their private parts to boost their performance.
It turns out that size matters in ski jumping. Before each season begins, the contestants go through a 3D scanner wearing only their underwear. The height of their crotch is measured and their bodysuits, which can only have 2 to 4 inches of material on top, are made based on these measurements.
Hyaluronic acid can increase the circumference of the rod by two centimeters, according to an article published by the BBC on Thursday, February 5.
The bigger the leg, the bigger the body suit, and any extra size, especially in the crotch area, can increase drag and extend an athlete’s jump by six feet.
“Every extra centimeter in the suit is important. If your suit has 5 percent more space, you fly forward,” FIS ski jumping race director Sandro Pertile he told the BBC. (The FIS is the international skiing federation that oversees the Olympic skiing and snowboarding competition.)
Olympic ski jumping
Photo by Javier SORIANO / AFPFIS communications director Bruno Sassihowever, he added that there is no evidence that any Olympian has turned to drugs to gain more girth.
“There has been no indication, let alone evidence, that any competitor has ever used hyaluronic acid injections to try to gain a competitive advantage,” he said.
Every two years, the summer or winter Olympics bring together the world’s best athletes to compete in the same city and occupy the same Olympic venue. They are usually 20-somethings in high physical fitness, forced into close quarters in a high-pressure, high-level environment. Perfect for extracurricular activities. In fact, people report that […]
The World Anti-Doping Agency addressed the scandal at a press conference on Thursday.
“I do not know the details of ski jumping, and how that can improve performance,” the director general of WADA Olivier Niggli said. “If something comes up, we look into it and see if it is related to drugs, we don’t talk about anything else. [non-doping] ways to improve performance.”
The concept of men trying to look big on the ground is nothing new – even in skiing. Just last year, the 2025 ski jumping World Championships were marred by scandal when two Norwegian competitors’ suits were found to be repaired in the crotch area.
Abaca Press/INSTARimages Against all odds, Anthony Ammirati has become one of the faces of the 2024 Summer Olympics without even getting close to the stage. The 21-year-old French pole vaulter began to suffer on Saturday, August 3, when his pole vault hit the crossbar during the heat of the semi-finals in Paris. Ammirati called the incident “huge […]
Video evidence emerged from the coaches Magnus Brevik, Thomas Lobben again Adrian Livelten adding a stretchable seam to competitors’ suits Marius Lindvik again Johann André Forfang. The coaches received 18-month suspensions and the athletes three months, although it appears they were unaware of the suit’s abuse.
After that, Olympic officials added more measures to try to prevent cheating.
“There have been withdrawals in the past, many. It’s part of the sport,” Sassi told The Associated Press in January. “But there’s never been such an effort to try to not just bend the rules, but like do something … cheat the system in a very different way than having a suit that’s too long or too loose.”
Ski jumping at the 2026 Winter Olympics began on Thursday with the official sessions for men and women.
