An unlikely scandal is taking the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics by storm: “Penisgate.”
Allegations that ski jumpers injected their penises with hyaluronic acid to gain a competitive advantage are now on the radar of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which said it would look into the matter.
Such injections could increase the size of a user’s crotch and thus warrant a larger ski suit, which would theoretically help them travel further.
“Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I’m going to look at it,” Wada president Witold Banka, who is Polish, said with an amused smile Thursday during a press conference in Milan, according to the BBC.
The injection allegations were first reported by the German newspaper Bild last month.
In a study published by the Frontiers journal last fall, researchers found that “suit size greatly influenced aerodynamic performance” in ski jumping.
For every extra two centimeters in their suit, a ski jumper’s drag increased by about 4% and their lift increased by about 5%, according to the study.
“I am not aware of the details of ski jumping, and how that could improve performance,” Wada director general Olivier Niggli said Thursday.
“If anything was to come to the surface, we would look at it and see if it is doping related. We don’t address other [non-doping] means of enhancing performance.”
The sport does not prohibit hyaluronic acid, a natural substance that can be used to treat ailments such as osteoarthritis and dry eye, or as a cosmetic filler.
Last year, a pair of Norwegian ski jumpers and multiple coaches received suspensions after the team was caught tampering with the crotch area of the athletes’ suits at the 2025 World Ski Championships.
Both of those jumpers — Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang — won medals at previous Olympics.
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