updates
Jump suits illegal by the dozen
DSV mixed team rages after disqualifications
2/7/2022 1:34 p.m
The German ski jumping team is actually hoping for an Olympic medal in the mixed competition – and then unexpectedly drops out after the first round in a desolate ninth place. The best German jumper Katharina Althaus is disqualified.
A disqualification of Katharina Althaus brought long-term world champion Germany to the hoped-for medal at the Olympic premiere of the mixed competition. For silver medalist Althaus, Karl Geiger, Selina Freitag and Constantin Schmid it was already over after the first round because the Oberstdorfer didn’t conform to the rules.
“It’s really bitter. At the Olympics, they start testing differently or more. For me, it’s slowly becoming a puppet show. We jump with these measurements all the time. It’s strange,” said men’s national coach Stefan Horngacher on ZDF: ” From my point of view, it’s no longer in the interest of the sport. You have to be excited to get through it.”
Women’s national coach Maximilian Mechler said in a first reaction: “The suit was apparently too big.” Clothing for jumping is strictly regulated. The first thing to consider is the fit – the suits must not be too wide, as this would offer advantages in flight – and the material must not be too thick or too thin and must not exceed a certain air permeability. On the one hand, this is intended to prevent a technical arms race and, on the other hand, to ensure equal opportunities.
DSV team manager Horst Hüttel explained: “We are all pissed off. Katha says she has been checked through for longer than ever. She says: Until something is found.” The fact that not only Althaus, who was then in tears, but also Japan’s star jumper Sara Takanashi and the experienced Austrian Daniela Iraschko-Stolz were disqualified, rated Hüttel as “a bit scandalous. The FIS (International Ski Federation; ed .) can’t measure differently at a team event. That’s how you destroy the sport somewhere.”
“It’s a tough number”
The Finnish equipment controller Mika Jukkara, who had replaced Sepp Gratzer at the beginning of the season, also cracked down on other nations, in the second round it also hit the Norwegian team – here even in Silje Opseth and Anna Odine Stroem both jumpers – all teams affected were ultimately no chance. Even before that, Horngacher no longer understood the world. “The suit is stretchy material. I’m very disappointed,” said the Austrian: “But the positive thing is: we made a lot of good jumps. Karl cracked the hill.” That came pretty late in the last competition on the normal hill.
It was only on Sunday that Germany’s men around co-favorite Geiger experienced a pitch-black day and missed the medals by miles. A podium finish in mixed was supposed to be a consolation, but things turned out differently. Geiger was just celebrating his strong jump, which would have meant second place at halftime, when the shocking news came: “It’s super bizarre that three are out now. That’s a tough number. I don’t know what has been checked now .”
The mixed competition was part of the Olympic program for the first time in Beijing, and the women in particular had vehemently tried to get a second chance at a medal. At world championships, on the other hand, mixed has been held since 2013, and Germany won gold four times in five events. Both Althaus and Markus Eisenbichler were part of three triumphs.
In the end, gold went to the Slovenian mixed team, which was well deserved. Peter Prevc, individual Olympic champion Ursa Bogataj, Timi Zajc and Nika Kriznar prevailed in front of the Russian Olympic Committee and Canada.
For the women around Althaus, the games are over – ski jumpers are still not allowed to compete on the large hill at the Olympic Games. After the disappointment, she gave a devastating verdict: “It was a first for ski jumping, for us women. We were so happy that we had a second competition at the Olympics. The FIS destroyed it with this campaign.”