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Page 1 — “Without fluorine, the ski bites”
Page 2 — “There is no comparable product yet”
THE TIME: Mr. Rüesch, as a professional cross-country skier you are no longer allowed to use fluorine-containing wax this season. The international ski association FIS has banned it. Is fluorine the new doping?
Jason Rüesch: Depending on the snow conditions, you can ski up to ten percent faster with fluorine in your ski wax. Fluor can be the difference between first and 20th place.
TIME: That means it’s the new doping!
Rüesch: It wouldn’t surprise me if someone got caught. Whether intentional or not is another question.
TIME: What do you mean?
Rüesch: In the World Cup races there are strict controls before and after the start. One level lower, in the Continental Cup, where you qualify for the World Cup, there is not as much control. If you are caught, you will be disqualified from a race and you will be allowed to start again the next day.
TIME: Is that enough?
Rüesch: I don’t think so. Doping is doping. Material doping should also have noticeable consequences. That’s a problem.
TIME: You suggested that you could also come into contact with fluorine unintentionally. What do you mean by that?
Rüesch: Even the smallest amount is enough and you violate the ban. If someone uses the same brush to first brush out a wax with fluorine and then a wax without it, that’s already too much. For the new season, we have cleaned or replaced everything – every brush, every ski band.
This article comes from ZEIT No. 02/2024. You can read the entire issue here.
TIME: The ban was introduced after it became clear that fluorine, when released into the environment via ski wax, is difficult to degrade and can cause cancer. What does the ban mean for you specifically?
Rüesch: I study the snow and the weather with my service man. Then we choose eight skis that are sanded and waxed differently. We test these and decide on the competition ski. I have to bring this – this is new – to the FIS for a wax check half an hour before the start. I only got it back a few minutes before the start. This all happens in the separate pre-start area, where no one who doesn’t belong has access.
TIME: This means that the skis pass through more hands than before. Aren’t you afraid that a competitor might smear fluorine on you?
Rüesch: No. Otherwise I would have to be afraid that someone would put a banned substance in my food. The cross-country skiing world is manageable, people have respect for each other. If someone behaved strangely, it would be noticed.
THE TIME: Mr. Rüesch, as a professional cross-country skier you are no longer allowed to use fluorine-containing wax this season. The international ski association FIS has banned it. Is fluorine the new doping?
Jason Rüesch: Depending on the snow conditions, you can ski up to ten percent faster with fluorine in your ski wax. Fluor can be the difference between first and 20th place.
TIME: That means it’s the new doping!
Rüesch: It wouldn’t surprise me if someone got caught. Whether intentional or not is another question.
