Rule becomes fatal
It was too heavy: German Olympic dream shattered
December 7, 2025 – 9:18 p.mReading time: 1 min.
The Olympic Games take place in Italy in February. However, a young German athlete is expected to miss the games – for unusual reasons.
Viktoria Hansova is apparently not allowed to go to the Olympic Games – because she is too heavy. The German skeleton junior world champion was recommended to take part in February, but failed due to a rule that she describes as “not equally fair for all bodies”.
In her sport, the total weight of the athlete and the sled counts: women can weigh a maximum of 102 kilograms, men 120. The lighter the athlete, the heavier the sled can be – which is considered an advantage. With Hansova, 1.78 meters tall, there is hardly any leeway: she only has 70 kilos of body weight left.
In an interview with “Welt”, the 21-year-old described the consequences of this. After summer training, she weighed almost 76 kilos. With the sled she was over the limit – and came under pressure. She had to lose weight to have any chance of qualifying. “I was shaky, weak, my legs felt empty.”
Hansova managed to stay within the weight limit. But in doing so she missed the sporting norm. “I think it at least took away a realistic chance for me,” she says of the rule – and describes the burden of the scales as a disadvantage in the fight for Olympic qualification.