Crotch-enlarging scandal leads to new ski jumping rules at 2026 Winter Olympics
New rules have been brought in for ski jumpers (Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)
In the age old debate about whether size matters, it seems it does if you are a Winter Olympic ski jumper.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, the size of ski jumpers’ crotches will be subject to stringent rules and monitoring following an enlargement scandal that rocked the sport last year.
At the 2025 Ski Jumping World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, several members of the home team – who have a long history of dominating the sport at the Olympics – were subjected to disqualifications, suspensions and bans after officials found the crotch-area of ski suits used by the team’s male athletes had been manipulated to give them an unfair advantage.
READ MORE: Where are the 2026 Winter Olympics and how can you watch?
For those unfamiliar with ski jumping, the sport sees competitors speed down a steep ramp, launch themselves into the air and fly as far and as smoothly as possible, before landing.
The manipulation of the suits by stuffing them with extra material was done to – illegally – improve the aerodynamics of a skier’s jump.
Ski suits are tightly fitted to an athlete’s body, with the rules only allowing about two to four centimetres around, increasing the crotch area of the suit thereby increases the surface area by which air can move around and makes the skier glide longer and farther.
Simply put, bigger crotches lead to a bigger distance travelled and potentially a better score – giving the athletes an unfair advantage over others.
Following the scandal, in October 2025 research published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found that adding even just one centimetre (0.4 inches) of fabric to a ski suit could increase a jumper’s fly by 9.2 feet.
The study also revealed that adding fabric to any part of the suit would bring an advantage in the air but adding it specifically to the crotch would bring the most benefits.
At this year’s Winter Olympics, which kick off on Friday (February 6), new rules have been brought in to prevent similar cheating tactics.
“There have been disqualifications in the past, many. It’s part of the sport,” Bruno Sassi, spokesman for the international ski federation (FIS), the sport’s regulatory body, said ahead of the Olympics.
“But there had never been that kind of a brazen attempt to not only bend the rules, but like downright do something … to cheat the system in a way that it is very different from simply having a suit that is a tad too long or a tad too loose.”
The new rules will see ski suits checked and 3D measurements taken, as well as tamper-proof microchips attached.
“The last few months have been extremely challenging for Ski Jumping, as we all know,” FIS Ski Jumping Race Director Sandro Pertile said.
“Through all of this, one of FIS’ main priorities has been to ensure that the recent problems related to equipment serve as an accelerator for the evolution of the sport and its controls.”
