"No evidence of fraud"

New recordings: Now also ÖSV eagles under fire!

After the Norwegian suit scandal, our ÖSV eagles (pictured: Stefan Kraft) are now also under fire.

(Bild: GEPA)

Less than a week after the ski jumping scandal at the World Championships in Trondheim came to light, a Polish journalist has once again published secretly recorded images. Unlike the Norwegians, who manipulated suits in a taped-off stadium box, this time it is not the content of the material that is particularly sensitive, but the location of the images. One thing is certain: the pictures are of Austrian athletes in the warm-up room in Trondheim.

Jakub Balcerski from the sport.pl portal shared the photos he received from an anonymous source. Only very few selected people are allowed into this area of the facility. Filming, photographing and publishing in and from these areas is strictly prohibited by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) did not want to comment on the secretly taken photos when asked.

No proof or evidence of cheating
The author points out anomalies in the gloves, boots and the upper part of the suit, but admits that there is no proof or real evidence of cheating. "This is not evidence of fraud by the Austrians, but rather materials that may raise suspicion regarding the size of the gloves, the stiff material at the top of the suit and the shoes modified using the garage method," Balcerski writes.

Last Saturday, Austria was one of the first nations to lodge a protest against the start of the Norwegians and subsequently demanded that the FIS cancel all of the host nation's World Championship results.

The world federation has since suspended the Norwegian jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang as well as three officials and tightened the rules for the rest of the winter following the scandal in Trondheim. Lindvik and Forfang claim to have known nothing about the illegal practices. Many experts and ski jumping colleagues find this implausible.

Stricter equipment rules
As decided on Wednesday, the stricter equipment rules stipulate that from now until the end of the season, the athletes may only compete with one jump suit. This must be a suit that has already been fitted with an identification chip this winter. A second suit can be available as a backup in case the first one breaks.

Each selected suit will be checked together with the athletes before the (today's) World Cup at Holmenkollen in Oslo. The jump suits will be collected by FIS officials after the competition. They will be handed out again around 30 minutes before the next training session or competition. The changes also apply to the Nordic Combined.

"These measures ensure that our material checks are more efficient and that the inspectors have more time for their tests," explained Sandro Pertile and Lasse Ottesen, the Race Directors for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, in unison. This also proves how seriously the FIS is taking this matter. "We expect full support from the teams so that there can be fair competitions until the end of the season."