Ski jumping: Norway’s sports director gives fraud in the suit scandal

Norway’s ski jumping team deliberately cheated at the World Cup in Trondheim. Sports director Jan Erik Aalbu confessed to this at a press conference in the team hotel on Sunday. The manipulation of the suits before the World Cup jumping from the Großschanze had been carried out without consulting the jumpers and only for this a competition.

“We have made changes to the suits in the knowledge that they are not legal. As I see it, we cheated. We tried to trick the system. This is unacceptable,” said Aalbu: “We all disappointed who love ski jumping. I would like to apologize to the other nations, the World Cup organizers and the fans myself.”

According to this, the Norwegian service team had intensified seams in the suits of Springer Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang and thus improved the stiffness. This improves the flight ability irregularly. “We did all night to clarify the incident,” said Allbu. The service people would have confirmed the campaign.

Aalbu did not want to name the names of those responsible behind the manipulation. However: head coach Magnus Brevig, who was seen in the manipulation video, was missing from the press conference. He is said to have already been on the way to Oslo. “I have no control over what Magnus Brevig did last night,” said Aalbu, who completed the press conference alone. None of the affected jumper was present.

According to Aalbu, only the suits of the two top jumpers Lindvik and Forfang were manipulated, and illegal changes were made in no other athletes or an athlete. In addition, the sports director tried to assure that the fraud was only done in front of this one jumping and that he did not expect the Norwegians to revoke other successes achieved in Trondheim. “We have always carried correct suits except for this one competition,” said Aalbu.

He himself was completely unsuspecting by Sunday morning. “I take on responsibility. But I still didn’t know anything. We have had nothing at all. We have had meetings since last night, there we found out that we cheated,” said Aalbu: “I saw the videos, but I am not an expert and I didn’t know what was being done there. I was already told to prepare suits for the following World Cup in Oslo.”

The day before, Aalbu had excluded a conscious action. “It was not a manipulation of the suit. This is not a fraud, that’s not a doping,” he explained. Now he rowed back: “I apologize for this categorical statement.”

In the video that was circulating in jumping circles and in the media, you could see how, in the presence of Brevig, was probably tailored to the World Cup suits during the night of Saturday. Thereupon three nations had protest against the start of the Norwegians in jumping from the Großchanze. After the competition, three Norwegians had been disqualified, including the second -placed Lindvik. He had previously won gold in front of Andreas Wellinger on the normal hill. On Sunday, Wellinger seemed to mourn the lost gold when he sent a thoughtful message from the airport. “What would have been in the other competitions where I was very close and we were very close as a team?” He asked on Instagram. He has many questions.

The horror in the ski jumping family, which has been withdrawn since the weekend, is great. Sven Hannawald spoke of the “ugliness of our sport”. DSV sports director Horst Hüttel was “sad and angry”. He is surprised at the exemplary shamelessness in ski jumping. Norway’s officials initially defended themselves so that the videos had shown suits for the coming weekend. “When the technicians of the other nations heard that, it torn them. It is as if someone takes illegal medication here and says he takes it for next week. I can’t follow it at all,” said Hüttel.

“It is a fool for me. It is a clear manipulation and clear sports fraud, similar to doping,” said Poland head coach Thomas Thurnbichler. He is no longer talking to his coaching colleague Brevig, added Thurnbichler. “I’m shocked. We wouldn’t have expected something like that,” said race director Sandro Pertile from FIS. The World Association initiated an official investigation on Sunday.