Sara Takanashi of Team Japan shows dejection after being disqualified after jumping in the final round of the mixed-team ski jumping event at the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, China. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images hide caption
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Sara Takanashi of Team Japan shows dejection after being disqualified after jumping in the final round of the mixed-team ski jumping event at the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, China.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Anger and confusion overflowed at the Olympic mixed-team ski jumping final in China after five female competitors were disqualified from the event by officials who said their jumpsuits didn't comply with the rules. The shocking outcome sparked tears and left athletes and coaches struggling to describe what they had just experienced.
The disqualified jumpers represent four of the top ski jumping teams in the world: Sara Takanashi of Japan; Daniela Iraschko-Stolz of Austria; Katharina Althaus of Germany; and Anna Odine Stroem and Silje Opseth of Norway.
A roundup of reactions, via Reuters:
- "We just pulled the crap card. That is how you destroy nations, development and the entire sport," said Germany's Althaus, who already has won a silver medal in Beijing in an individual event.
- "This is a parody, but I am not laughing," said German sports director Horst Huttel.
- "The sport of ski jumping has experienced one of its darker days," said Clas Brede Braathen, the Norwegian national team manager for ski jumping.
- "For me, it is a puppet theater. The entire season the suits have been an issue. I am unbelievably angry and I don't understand it," said German team coach Stefan Horngacher.
The controversy marred the Olympic debut of the mixed-team competition. Instead of celebrating gender equity — a main priority for Olympic organizers — the disqualifications "became the main topic of the day," according to the sport's governing body, FIS.
Slovenia won gold in the event, propelled by Nika Kriznar and Ursa Bogataj, both of whom had already medaled in earlier individual competitions. Silver went to the Russian Olympic Committee and bronze to Canada — two countries that had never reached the podium in mixed-team events at the world championships or the World Cup, according to the Olympics' news feed.
The disqualified athletes' jumpsuits were reportedly too large, potentially giving them an unfair advantage as they soared through the air. Ski jumping is governed by exacting rules that account for a number of variables, from an athlete's weight to the size and cut of the athletes' jumpsuits.
Anna Odine Stroem of Team Norway was one of five athletes disqualified from the inaugural mixed-team ski jumping event at the Winter Olympics. Officials said their jumpsuits didn't comply with the rules. Lars Baron/Getty Images hide caption
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Lars Baron/Getty Images
Anna Odine Stroem of Team Norway was one of five athletes disqualified from the inaugural mixed-team ski jumping event at the Winter Olympics. Officials said their jumpsuits didn't comply with the rules.
Lars Baron/Getty Images
Takanashi's coach "said her suit was supposedly too big around the thighs, even though she wore it in the women's normal hill event on Saturday," Japan's NHK reported. "He added that the extreme dry weather may have affected her body's moisture content."
Like Takanashi, other athletes said they competed in the same jumpsuits they wore in earlier events. That includes Opseth, who told Norwegian media that what changed wasn't her suit, but the way it was measured.
But FIS official Aga Baczkowska told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the equipment inspection followed the rules, adding that it's up to each team to ensure its suits are in compliance.
"The jumping suit must in all places and parts be tight-fitting the athlete's body," according to the FIS equipment measuring guidelines that were updated in November.
The rules specify how much tolerance is allowed in the suit, as measured when an athlete is standing in an upright position.
If you're wondering how specific the rules are, consider that they dictate what kind of underwear jumpers can wear, and they forbid jumpers from tucking their hair into their suit. They also specify the suit's air permeability, as well as the number and location of its seams.
As several of the athletes and coaches acknowledged, this is far from the first time women's jumpsuits have been at the center of controversy.
"For years, every female ski jumper around the world was required to have extra panels sewn in around her hips," Emily Russell of North Country Public Radio reported last week. "The International Ski Federation (FIS), which sets competition standards for the sport, said the additional hip panels were meant to fit a woman's body better."
But some athletes said the extra panels mainly seemed to emphasize the curves of women's bodies. The FIS changed the rules about those panels in its 2020 specifications — but now women's suits are again making headlines, on winter sports' biggest stage.
This story originally appeared in the Morning Edition live blog.
FAQs
Five women ski jumpers were disqualified from the Olympic mixed-team event over loose clothing. Baggier clothing could give jumpers extra loft in the air. Skiers and coaches were outraged, saying they practiced in the same suits all week without issue.
Why were women not allowed to ski jump? ›
In 2005, Gian Franco Kasper, FIS president and a member of the IOC, said he didn't think women should ski jump because the sport "seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view." By the time women's ski jumping was included at a world-championship-level event in 2009, it was too late; Vancouver's ...
Who are the female Olympians disqualified? ›
In an unceremonious and perplexing move, five women — Austria's Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Japan's Sara Takanashi, Norway's Anna Odine Strøm and Silje Opseth, and Germany's Katharina Althaus — were eliminated from the mixed team skip jump competition after their outfits were ruled too loose to compete, per the judges who ...
Why was the Japanese woman disqualified in the Olympics? ›
If it does not meet the requirements it results in a disqualification of the athlete. An athlete is responsible for the equipment he uses.” Takanashi was disqualified as her suit was two centimeters wider than permitted around her thighs, according to Reuters.
What female skier became paralyzed? ›
"Jill Kinmont Boothe is still going strong more than 50 years after paralyzing skiing accident," Los Angeles Times, Sunday, May 22, 2011.
Who is the intersex Olympic skier? ›
Erik Schinegger (born 19 June 1948) is an Austrian intersex skier.
Can women compete in Olympic ski jumping? ›
Ski jumping only became an Olympic sport for women in 2014
The International Ski Federation says the women's side of the sport is still young. While men have ski jumped at the Olympics since the first Winter Games nearly a century ago, women weren't allowed to compete until 2014.
When were women allowed to ski in the Olympics? ›
Women's alpine skiing has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1936. However, it wasn't until 1952 that women's downhill was added to the Olympic programme. Today, women compete in five alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics: downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and the combined event.
Are women ski jumpers demanding they be allowed to participate in the Olympics? ›
With that, women's ski jumping took a historic place in the Olympic Winter Games, its seat at the table not courtesy of an engraved invitation from the International Olympic Committee but the result of years of lobbying and a lawsuit by female athletes who demanded the chance to compete.
Which female athlete has too much testosterone? ›
South Africa's two-time Olympic champion Caster sem*nya told CNN that having to take testosterone-reducing medication in order to compete internationally was “hell” and had a negative impact on her health.
sem*nya may now be free to challenge, once again, rules that have left her career on hold. She has a medical condition known as hyperandrogenism, which is characterised by higher than usual levels of testosterone, a hormone that increases muscle mass, strength and haemoglobin, which affects endurance.
What athlete was banned for high testosterone? ›
Champion runner Caster sem*nya won a potentially landmark legal victory on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights decided she was discriminated against by sports rules that force her to medically reduce her natural hormone levels to compete in major competitions.
What Olympic sports are female only? ›
Throughout Olympic history, there have been a number of events that are exclusively for women, such as rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, although there are many more male-only events, such as the pommel horse and rings, and there is a larger number of male weight classes in weightlifting and combat events.
Who was the female Olympian stripped of medals? ›
Marion Jones (born October 12, 1975, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) American athlete, who, at the 2000 Olympic Games, became the first woman to win five track-and-field medals at a single Olympics. In 2007, however, she admitted to having used banned substances and subsequently returned the medals.
Who was the first female athlete? ›
1900 – The 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris introduces women's events, offering golf, tennis, and croquet. Hélène de Pourtalès of Switzerland was the first woman to win a gold medal as part of a mixed sailing crew. Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain becomes the first individual female winner in an Olympic event.
What Olympian was disqualified? ›
The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the U.S., which finished second to Russia in figure skating's team event, is set to be named Olympic champion, instead.
What female skier broke records? ›
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates with her brother after making history in Sweden. Mikaela Shiffrin won her 87th World Cup race on Saturday to break the overall record set by skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark.
Who was disqualified from the Olympics ice skating? ›
US figure skaters awarded Olympic gold after Russian skater disqualified amid doping controversy. Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was handed a four-year ban Monday over a long-running doping controversy.
Who is the missing female skier? ›
The search for a Swiss female skier who vanished during a doomed Alps trip with her boyfriend and his family has been abandoned after her relatives gave up hope she is alive. Emilie Deschenaux, 28, was part of a group of six skiers who embarked on a trip in the Swiss Alps on Saturday and came into a brutal storm.
