The Olympics is no stranger to doping allegations, but the sport of ski jumping is facing a strange one.
Ski Jumpers are allegedly injecting their penises as a way to manipulate their competition ahead of the Winter Olympics. While this wouldn’t necessarily be a steroid scandal, it still gives competitors and unfair advantage from the rest of the field.
With the Winter Olympics about to take center stage from Milan, here’s the latest on this ski jumping scandal.
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Olympic Ski Jumping Penis Scandal
Bild, a German newspaper, reported in early January that olympic ski jumpers were allegedly injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid as a way to gain more distance in the air. Ski jumpers were injecting the acid to make their penises larger when they are being measured for their ski suits by a 3-D scanner.
If the ski jumpers have a bigger suit with more breathing room, the suit almost acts like a sail to help them fly further in the air.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has not yet investigated the allegations, but director general Oliver Niggli said the organization would look into it.
“I’m not aware of the details of ski jumping and how it can improve but if anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping related,” he said, via The Athletic. “We don’t do other means of enhancing performance but our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall into this category. But I haven’t heard about that until you mentioned.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature stricter rules regarding ski jumpers’ suits, as three Norwegian coaches were banned 18 months, and two ski jumpers banned three months, for intentionally manipulating their ski jumper suits ahead of competitions.
Therefore, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation is using 3-D measurements and an improved process to fit each jumper with a suit.
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What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic acid is a substance that the human body naturally produces that helps smooth joints, keep the skin flexible and hydrate the body. In this case, injecting hyaluronic acid into the penis temporarily enhances size, something ski jumpers are using to try and get bigger suits for the competition.
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What is WADA?
WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is the pre-eminent drug enforcement agency for sports across the world. WADA typically deals with doping cases for sports that span multiple countries, like Olympic sports and tennis.
