Michal Lamplotin marvels at the resulting uproar. According to him, the rulebook has been followed.
Competition Manager of the International Ski Federation FIS Michal Lamplot is surprised to hear from Iltalehti about the discussion that has sprung up in Finland about the farce of the World Ski Championships.
Ilta-Sanomat reports both the women’s 30 km and the men’s 50 km races were considerably undersized. IS says that it has seen, among other things Krista Pärmäkoski and Johanna Matintalo with GPS measurement of the distance skied.
For Pärmäkoski, the GPS measurement indicated a ski distance of 27.03 kilometers and for Matintalo 27.04 kilometers. IS also reports poor GPS readings of other athletes.
The Czech Lamplot was not aware of the whole conversation before Iltalehti contacted him. He is surprised, because the track was built and approved according to FIS rules.
– We have a tolerance for competitive trips. I’m not saying that the races were exactly 30 and 50 kilometers long, but they were within tolerance, says Lamplot.
In the Fis rule book the tolerance limit is defined as a maximum of ten percent over and five percent under.
The readings reported by IS are well below the tolerance. Lamplot does not argue about whether the athletes’ GPS readings are correct, because he is not familiar with the discussion in Finland.
He assures that the track is fine.
– Preparing a track is a long and very complicated process. I am absolutely sure that the measurement is correct.
If the course was really the required length, the insufficient GPS readings can be explained either by the ski lines of the athletes or by the poor GPS connection in the mountains of Slovenia.
The World Cup continues this weekend at Holmenkollen. According to Lamplot, there is no longer any reason to return to Planica’s events in Norway.
– No body approached me about this issue in Planica. I don’t see any problem with this.
Fis cross-country competition manager Michal Lamplot marvels at the uproar created in Finland. PASI LEISMA