“Picture dragged through the mud”Reunion with impostor worries German ski jumpers
More than half a year later, the scandal surrounding Norwegian outfit cheating continues to worry ski jumpers. There was great distrust of the German team, and almost no one believed Norway’s assurances.
Andreas Wellinger still does not believe in the fraudsters from Norway, Philipp Raimund even sees “bad blood”, the image of the entire sport is damaged: When the Olympic winter season begins on Friday, there can be no question of a perfect world in the once so calm ski jumping family. “The credibility of our sport has taken a huge hit,” veteran Wellinger said before the start of the World Cup in Norway.
Eight months have passed since the scandal at the World Cup, but the scandal surrounding the manipulation of Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang’s costumes has still not been forgotten. “Fortunately, I don’t see him very often,” said Wellinger, and that will now change at Lillehammer. Meanwhile, the two Norwegian citizens continued to admit that they did not know anything about this matter. But: “I don’t believe that,” said DSV Adler.
Wellinger and many others refused to believe that neither Lindvik nor Forfang had noticed the change in their clothing. The claim that the manipulation secretly recorded in this video was carried out for the first time at that time also seems strange. After a strong World Cup, why should supervisors pursue innovations that have never been tested before, especially before the most important competition?
Because an investigation lasting several months found no evidence of involvement by Olympic champions Lindvik and Forfang, the two were only given a three-month summer ban and allowed to compete on weekends. “It took quite a while before I could trust the Norwegians again,” said Raimund.
There are now yellow and red cards in ski jumping
The decline in the sport’s credibility will be visible in the coming months through viewership and ratings, including in Germany. “The whole ski jumping picture has been dragged through the mud,” Raimund said and admitted: “There is still a bit of a bad thing.”
Similar voices have recently come from other countries, prompting Lindvik to respond. “The people who shout the loudest are the ones who are the worst,” he told Dagbladet. The Norwegian proved in August that he can jump well even when wearing regulation-compliant clothing when he won the first Grand Prix of the Summer. A few days later a ban was announced.
In the struggle for credibility, the world association FIS also reacted. In addition to stricter suit rules, there are now yellow and red cards. Therefore, jumpers who are disqualified for equipment violations will receive a yellow card at a later date. Further violations will result in a red card and suspension for the next competition.
National coach Stefan Horngacher, who is entering his final season, at least thinks this innovation is good. He considered the legal process against Norway to be different. “We expected something different. Certain things weren’t even discussed. It’s a bit sad,” said the Austrian coach. It will become clear over the winter whether these new rules will at least restore confidence.
