- Norwegian ski jumpers face sanctions for alleged suit manipulation at world championships.
- The International Ski and Snowboard Federation disqualified jumpers at France's event for suits not fitting closely enough.
- The federation expects fewer disqualifications as teams adapt to new equipment regulations.
SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of Norwegian Olympic gold medalist ski jumpers and three members of the Norway men's team staff now face possible sanctions for the alleged "manipulation" of their ski suits at last winter's world championships.
And numerous ski jumpers were disqualified over the weekend for wearing suits deemed not to fit closely enough at the sport's first event of the 2025-26 season, held on an artificial surface in France.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation described the disqualifications as "perfectly normal" given the tightening of the rules for ski jumping suits after the Norwegian scandal.
The ethics and rules violation charges brought Monday against the Norwegians by the federation have been referred to the FIS Ethics Committee, which has the power to impose "a period of ineligibility, financial sanctions, or disqualification of results."
No date has been set for the committee to consider the charges against ski jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, team coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben and service staff member Adrian Livelten.
The 2026 Winter Games are set to begin in Milan-Cortina, Italy, in six months. Lindvik has been expected to defend his Olympic title next year, The Associated Press reported, while Forfang won team gold and an individual silver at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The charges stem from an incident at the 2025 Nordic Skiing World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, in March. It was captured on secretly filmed footage that led to formal protests from the Austria, Slovenia and Poland teams, according to the AP.
Brevik, the team's head coach and Livelten, the equipment manager, admitted in March that the suits were altered before an event, the AP reported, describing the changes made as intended to increase their size.
"We regret it like dogs, and I'm terribly sorry that this happened," Brevik was reported to have said at the time.
The suits are pre-approved and microchipped by the federation, and had to be torn apart at the seams of the crotch area to confirm the alterations, according to the AP, which said illegal modifications can help ski jumpers "fly further with more aerodynamic resistance."
At last weekend's French event, six male ski jumpers were disqualified due to issues with their suits, including waist sizes, and three more were "not permitted to start," the AP reported, while another jumper from Japan also was blocked from competing.
FIS race director Sandro Pertile told the news agency in an email that the "disqualifications are clearly a result of technical inadequacies — there's no sign whatsoever of ill intent from the teams."
The federation expects to see fewer disqualifications as teams get used to the rules, he said.
"It's perfectly normal for teams to need some time to adapt to the new situation after such comprehensive changes to the equipment regulations," Pertile said. "Some cope with it straight away, others find it difficult at first."
