Five female ski jumpers have been disqualified from the Winter Olympics mixed team event over uniforms that apparently were judged to be too large and not compliant with rules for the competition, sparking outrage and fierce backlash from athletes and coaches alike.
Japan’s Sara Takanashi, Austria’s Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Germany’s Katharina Althaus and Norway’s Anna Odine Strøm and Silje Opseth were all disqualified, according to the International Ski Federation (FIS).
A ski jumper’s jumpsuit and equipment must be complaint with a number of regulations, including what type of underwear ski jumpers can wear, the air permeability of the suit and the suit’s outer measurements, according to the FIS’s guidelines.
Larger suits can give an advantage to a ski jumper as they can help the skier’s aerodynamics in the air, according to a report by NPR.
But the decision came under heavy criticism given the names of those who were disqualified, who represented some of the strongest countries in the team ski jumping event.
“This is a parody, but I am not laughing … It is outrageous that this happens with the four biggest ski-jump nations,” German head of Nordic events Horst Huttel said, Reuters reported.
Norwegian ski jumper Robert Johansson called it “completely crazy” while Althaus said the FIS “destroyed women’s ski jumping,” the news outlet noted.
“Our names are now (out) there and we just pulled the crap card. That is how you destroy nations, development and the entire sport,” Althaus added.
Some athletes defended the disqualifications, saying that the Olympic Games were only enforcing the rules.
“I don’t think the medal is bitter-sweet. I think it’s as sweet as a medal can be. The equipment is very important in sports and disqualifications happen,” Canadian ski jumper Abigail Strate said when asked if the disqualifications made it a bittersweet medal to earn, according to FIS.
She was part of a bronze-medal winning Canadian team.
“In Ski Jumping it happens often and the fact that it now happened at Olympic Games shows that the rules are strictly enforced because it’s sports at the highest level,” she said.