Ski jumping overshadowed by cheating scandal after Norway caught tampering with uniforms
Ski jumping is no fashion contest, but there will be nearly as much scrutiny on what jumpers wear at the Winter Olympics as the form of their flight and the distance they travel.
A scandal from last year’s world championships in which the Norwegian team was caught doctoring their jumping suits to get a competitive edge has cast a shadow over the sport that will see new contests added this year at the Milan Cortina Games.
Norway’s Marius Lindvik, a gold medalist at the 2022 Beijing Games, was disqualified with a teammate at the world championships in March and suspended for three months after team leaders admitted tampering with their suits.
Lindvik, who was stripped of his second-place finish, and Johann Forfang said they weren’t aware of the alterations that stiffened the fabric to give them more lift to fly farther.
How it works
Ski jumping is one of six sports at the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and has featured ever since, evolving to add women’s events and seeing technology influence the development of technique, skis, bindings and clothing.
The sport dates to the 1800s in Norway, which has been the dominant nation in Olympic competition that now sees daredevils speeding up to nearly 60 mph (about 100 kph) down a steep ramp and launching themselves into the air to fly farther than the length of an American football field.
Skiers are judged not just on distance, but also on their technique in flight and their landing style.
There are two jumps: a large hill and a shorter normal hill.
Women who began competing in 2014 on the normal hill will also compete this year in the bigger hill for the first time.
There is a team event for men and a mixed team event combining forces of men and women.
Who to watch
All eyes will be on the Norwegian team to see how they do in the aftermath of the scandal, though Lindvik and others were not among top contenders early in the World Cup season.
A story likely to capture attention is of two Slovenian siblings. Nika Prevc won the world championships on both hills last year and brother, Domen Prevc, won on the large hill. Their older brother, Peter Prevc, won four Olympic medals in the sport before retiring.
Venues and dates
Competition at the Predazzo Olympic Ski Jumping Hill in Val di Fiemme begins Feb. 7 with the women’s normal hill contest and concludes Feb. 16 with the men’s super team event.
The scenic setting in the heart of the Dolomites — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is dubbed the Valley of Harmony for the acoustic properties of the spruce trees that violin maker Antonio Stradivari and other luthiers have used to craft high-quality musical instruments.
Memorable moments
While ski jumping is most popular in northern Europe most sport fans and casual observers would have better luck at naming a last-place finisher than a ski jumping champ. Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards stole the show at the 1988 Calgary Games as the first British athlete to compete in Olympic ski jumping. He finished at the bottom but succeeded in winning the hearts of fans for his determination to compete — a feat portrayed in a 2016 feature film starring Taron Egerton as Eddie and Hugh Jackman as his coach.
Fun facts
The standard jumping technique to splay skis in a V-formation was once ridiculed. Jan Boklöv of Sweden lost valuable style points in the mid-1980s until it became clear he was flying farther than his foes. Judging standards were later changed as it became widely adopted and Boklöv went on to capture the overall World Cup title in 1989.
Host country Italy has never won an Olympic medal in ski jumping.
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AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics