Czech servicemen fear “technological doping” due to gradual change of waxes

However, inspections by the International Ski Federation (FIS) will be difficult, which is why Martin Blaschke, head of the Czech cross-country skiers’ service team, fears “technological doping”. In addition, the gradual change in the rules entails high financial costs for teams that will have to buy stocks of waxes that are probably unusable next season. Then fluorine should be banned altogether.

Previously used fluorine waxes may not be produced and sold from 4 July 2020 and will not be used from this year. Originally, fluoride was supposed to be banned from skiing altogether, but in the end the FIS postponed this step for another year. Overall, the ban on fluorine waxes has taken a two-year lag. “The International Ski Federation still doesn’t have a ready-made device to validate the use of fluorine. They had a prototype ready in the winter and came to test it at the races. But the results were unsatisfactory. They had to start almost from the beginning. “They took the wrong end, first banned the use of fluorine waxes and then began to work out how they would actually control it. At the time, the FIS decision was stricter than EU regulations,” Blaschke said in an interview with the Czech Union.

The FIS can only check the composition of the waxes during the races by sending a sample to the laboratory. “So far, there is no indication that this will happen on a large scale and if at all. The result is that the ski associations have received regulations where they undertake not to use these prohibited waxes,” said the Czech serviceman.

As the possession of waxes with unpurified fluorine is also prohibited, customs officers and other local authorities may intervene. “But it’s hard to say how often these checks will take place. This leaves room for the illicit use of banned waxes, and if you’re not caught by customs, the FIS probably won’t either. It’s basically technological doping. The question, of course, is whether anyone ever he will take such a risk, because then a high fine will follow and the reputation of the team and the union will suffer, “said Blaschke.

The coach of the women’s national team, Jan Franc, and the leader of the men’s team, Michal Novák, are also concerned about fraud. On the contrary, the number one in the women’s national team, Kateřina Janatová, tries not to think about something like that. “I’m not stressed yet. If I had to be stressed by everything where I could cheat, we probably don’t even have to get on. If someone drove a lot of meters, it would be suspicious and maybe they would focus on it. Maybe people will be fair once, she hoped.

Gradual change will be very expensive for all teams. “We can’t afford not to buy any waxes, not to stock them, and we can throw what we have left in the trash after the season,” Franc complained. “You have to learn to work with waxes and it’s too late in the season, so you have to test the waxes for a while, and it also costs money. In the case of the Czech team, we talk about costs in the range of one and a half to two million crowns, which is “It’s about double that of a normal season,” Blaschke added.