The protagonists of the ski jumping scandal are right in the middle of the Four Hills Tournament. Their punishments? Served. The world association drew further consequences from the manipulation of the suits. A visit to the new materials controller.
At the Four Hills Tournament, the Norwegians Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang are fighting for the top positions. They were involved in the suit scandal at the last World Cup in Trondheim. A video showed their trainers sewing stiff straps into their suits. They were intended to make the suit more stable and increase the ability to fly. Lindvik and Forfang were able to serve their three-month ban in the summer, and Lindvik was allowed to keep his gold medal. Because: Both jumpers acted ignorantly and there was no evidence to convict them.
The result of the scandal: The world association Fis has installed a new materials controller, Mathias Hafele, who looks closely and immediately punishes cheating.
The suit check takes place in a small container at the exit of the jump. First, Hafele pats down the jumper – like at airport security. He checks that the suit fits snugly and that there are no stabilizing straps or seams.
The jumper then stands on a frame that measures the stride length. The suit leg must be three centimeters longer than the jumper’s leg. Otherwise the suit would be too large in the crotch area and would provide an unacceptable amount of support. The same goes for the sleeves: they can be a maximum of five centimeters shorter than the arms. Otherwise the material mass in the shoulder area would be too large.
Basic rule for the size of the suit: It must be two to four centimeters larger than the body at every point in circumference. First, Hafele decides based on his eyesight; if there are any suspicions, he uses the tape to measure. To do this, he makes lines on the body and suit and compares the circumferences. He looks particularly closely at the hip circumference.
A lesson from the Norwegian scandal
Then the jumper strips down to his underwear. Hafele tugs and tugs at the suit to discover any unauthorized sewn-in elements. A lesson from the Norwegian scandal. “Without this video, the fraud would not have been exposed,” says Hafele.
He introduced the “top of the leg” as a new control measure. To do this, he bends the suit leg upwards at a right angle and measures the circumference at the transition to the crotch. He then measures the jumper’s thigh. The same applies here: a maximum difference of four centimeters is permitted.
Next checkpoint: the air permeability of the suit. It must be at least 40 liters per square meter per second, otherwise the suit would wear too much. Hafele measures in three places: back, stomach, leg. A ski jumping suit consists of five laminated foam layers with a membrane in the middle. When manufactured, it is initially airtight, but is then perforated.
There are also regulations for shoes: they may be a maximum of two centimeters longer than your foot. The standing height in the shoe may be a maximum of four centimeters. The wedges in the shoes are also limited in size and must fit through a template. The jumpers put them in the back of the boot in order to provide support and immediate direct contact with the ski after the jump.
About ski lengths, weight and forbidden fluorine
Of course the skis are also regulated. Their length may be a maximum of 145 percent of the body size. A jumper can only use the maximum ski length if he or she has a body mass index of 21. If it is too light, he has to use shorter skis. The maximum front ski length is 57 percent of the total ski length. Maximum ski width: 10.5 centimeters.
Hafele also uses an electronic measuring device to check whether the ski wax contains fluorine. This increases the gliding ability when approaching, but is harmful to the environment and therefore prohibited.
Hafele is a former jumper and then worked as equipment manager for Austria for 17 years and for Poland for three years. “I come from the business and have the necessary know-how,” he says. The first offense will be punished with a yellow card and disqualification from the current competition. A second violation will result in a red card and exclusion from the following two competitions.
The text was written for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, „Bild“, “Sport Image”) created and first published in “Sport Bild”.
