Anti-doping chiefs at the Winter Olympics on Thursday said that they they would investigate bizarre claims that Olympic ski jumpers are injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to get a competitive advantage.
The claims, first reported in the German media, are based on the theory that adjustments to ski jumpers’ body suits, especially around the groin, can create the effect of a sail that can add meters to a jump.
Two Norwegians were given three-month suspensions last year after the team was found to have adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the World Ski Championships.
Photo: AP
Marius Lindvik, who is seeking to retain his Large Hill Olympic title at the Milan-Cortina Games, and another Olympic medalist, Johann Andre Forfang, were suspended, even though both argued that the suits had been altered without their knowledge.
When Witold Banka, the Polish president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), was asked about the penis injection claims at a news conference in Milan, he answered with a smile: “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland, so I promise you I’m going to look at it.”
WADA director-general Olivier Niggli said: “I’m not aware of the details of ski jumping — and how this can improve [performance] — but if anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping-related.”
“We don’t do other means of enhancing performance, but our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall into this category,” he said.
German newspaper Bild last month quoted Kamran Karim, a senior physician at Maria-Hilf Hospital in Krefeld, who said it is possible to create a “temporary, visual thickening of the penis through injections of paraffin or hyaluronic acid.”
“However, lengthening is not possible in this way. Such injections are not medically indicated and are associated with risks,” he added.
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