Norwegian Ski Jumpers Suspended for Illegal Alterations to Their Suits
Five Norwegian ski jumpers and three officials were suspended by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation this week, accused of cheating after altering the crotches of the team's ski suits. Some of the officials soon confessed to the scheme.
The officials are accused of engaging in 'illegal equipment manipulation' at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, last week. The suspensions will continue while an investigation takes place.
The suspended Norwegian athletes are Marius Lindvik, a gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics in 2022; Johann Andre Forfang, a gold medalist at Pyeongchang in 2018; Robin Pedersen; Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal; and Robert Johansson. Lindvik also won a gold medal at the world championships days before the suspensions.
The federation seized all of the ski jumping suits used by Norway at the event. An inspection of those suits 'raised additional suspicions of manipulation' of the suits used by the men's team, the federation said. No irregularities were found in the women's team's suits.
The ski jumping federation said it planned to toughen its 'suit control policy' at future events.
The international federation did not immediately make an official available for an interview on Friday.
'What we have done is manipulate or modify the jump suits in such a way that it violates the regulations,' one of the suspended officials, the team coach, Magnus Brevig, told the Norwegian news media. 'It was a deliberate act. Therefore, it is cheating. It was a joint decision. I should have stopped it.'
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