World champion Marius Lindvik, after the victorious comeback, let his ski jumpers run free in the summer Grand Prix in Couplevel.
“I don’t think everyone was so happy about my victory. So it was so damn great,” said the Norwegian of the newspaper “Dagbladet”.
However, Lindvik was not completely carefree about the successful return to the hill almost five months after his suspension in the course of the World Cup manipulation scandal.
Because this Monday the ethics committee used by the Ski World Association FIS will announce the judgment.
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The judgment could subsequently bring WM-Gold
Lindvik then hopes for mildness, after all, in the event of hard punishment, he could even lose his World Cup gold on the normal hill. Germany’s top jumper Andreas Wellinger, who had become second in the title fights in March in Trondheim in March.
“I hope that it will not go on. I think we have already been punished enough,” Lindvik had recently told the broadcaster “TV2”.
Back then, videos had revealed how the Norwegian team illegally worked on the competition suits in the presence of the then head coach Magnus Brevig. The World Cup host equipped the suits with a volume banned according to the regulations, which should provide more stability after the jump, including the suits of Lindvik.
Chaotic Grand Prix start
While Wellinger waived a start at the start of the summer Grand Prix series, Lindvik in the French Alps impressively reported. In his victory, he referred to Philipp Raimund in second place.
“It was really difficult to start again. The motivation was low. But I knew what it took to get to the top of the world. The whole thing stole energy for me. So it is particularly nice to be able to show them,” said Lindvik.
At the start of the season, the tightened rules of the FIS were used for the first time in material control, which led to numerous disqualifications. One of them concerned the young German Luca Roth, who was taken out of the race on Saturday before the second round due to a large step in his suit.
Two Norwegians were also affected. Benjamin Østvold did not get a starter permit because of a suit that was too big, Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal was excluded from the subsequent competition for the same reason.
Attachment manipulation among the world masters
Sundal, like Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang, who was in Courzevel 13.
Lindvik and Forfang denied to have known about the practices. They were now returning in Courchevel. “Things are now much stricter. They are really hard, except for the millimeter,” said Lindvik after the competition from the tightened controls.
New regulations
The World Association FIS has introduced several changes to the rules in response to fraud. An athlete that is disqualified due to an equipment shock now receives a yellow card. Another violation leads to a red card and a lock for the following competition.
In addition, the FIS relies on modernized measurements in control and new requirements for the suits. They should offer less space for manipulations.
On Monday, it will now be decided what consequences the World Cup scandal will have for the Norwegians. The independent ethics committee, chaired by the British lawyer Michael Beloff, determined for five months. 38 witnesses were listened to and 88 evidence was sighted.
Andreas Wellinger hopes for a clear signal through the judgment. “Team Norway is closed to everyone,” said the 29-year-old recently at a press conference.
“Now many question: Is it about performance or the best material? In the end we can only jump in front of full stadiums if people feel like watching us – and don’t have to listen to who has best been shitty afterwards.”