Manipulation in Norway: Ski jumping scandal: Check athletes with 3D scanners

The head of the material commission at the World Association FIS, Andreas Bauer, demands new control methods in the ski jumping scandal for manipulated suits. “So far, everything has been checked by hand, human measurements cannot be ruled out. We now have to switch to modern technology as soon as possible and use 3D scanners at the airport,” said Bauer of the “Allgäuer Zeitung” as well as the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” and the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”.

Norway’s team manipulated

“We can scan the body dimensions of the jumper and we can then scan them in the suits. I am sure that this will raise the controls to a new level,” said Bauer. “Because this way, every centimeter of the suit can be checked quickly and precisely – before, during and after the competition. With modern technology, we will manage to prevent fraud of this kind in the future. And it would also end the haggling by centimeter.”

Anonymously filmed and published videos have been causing great excitement in ski jumping since Saturday. On the moving images you can see how the Norwegian team works on competition suits in an inadmissible way. An unauthorized seam was attached, which should provide more stability. The additional stability helps the jumpers to fly in the air.

Bauer suggests immediate measures

After the big hill in Trondheim, the two Norwegians Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang were disqualified. Previously, her team -mate Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal had been taken out of the competition. However, there is concern that the scandal passes significantly further.

Bauer proposes quick measures for the remaining World Cups. “To get a fair end of the season would be my suggestion: We only allow one suit per jumper and put it through its paces,” said the 61-year-old former ski jumper and national coach of the German women’s team. “The suits are spent 30 minutes before the start of the competition and moved back into the care of the FIs immediately after jumping. So no changes can be made. However, this would have to decide higher FIS instances.”