The incidents of the mixed competition in ski jumping go down in Olympic history as one of the biggest scandals of all in ski jumping. Five athletes were disqualified in the middle of the competition on Monday after alleged discrepancies with their suits. The day after, the team manager of the German Ski Association (DSV) Horst Hüttel was still shocked.
Katharina Althaus, who had previously won Olympic silver in the individual on the normal hill, was one of the five ski jumpers taken out of the competition and disqualified by the Polish inspector Aga Baczkowska.
But what exactly was the problem with the 25-year-old and her ski jump suit?
The leading DSV official Horst Hüttel explained the scandalous events of Monday again in the “RTL / ntv” interview: “With our athlete it was probably the case that the circumference around the hip was one or two centimeters too big.”
Hüttel explained exactly how such a test procedure works: “Every athlete is measured before the season. For women, the suit can be a maximum of four centimeters over body size at any point. At Althaus it was one Put five inches.”
Hüttel quarrels: “You have to question yourself as an inspector”
One day later, there is still no answer as to why such deviations were found in five of the top jumpers on Monday and why all athletes were immediately disqualified from the competition. “No one can really understand that the measurements were so nitpicking,” said the German team manager.
Contradictory statements have so far been made regarding the way in which the jumpers and their suits were checked in the mixed competition.
“As an inspector, you have to question yourself: if five world-class athletes are disqualified on the same day, who are otherwise checked by her all year round, can’t there be other reasons?” continued the frustrated Hüttel.
After Monday’s farce, the 53-year-old is certain that the German team was deprived of a great sporting opportunity: “We were fully on course for a medal. It’s a medal that we lack, which also brought us money and support from the DOSB There are a lot of things that depend on it. That’s why the whole thing is still having an effect, “said Hüttel in the interview.
The conversation with the DSV team manager can be seen in full in the picture above.