Innerhofer beside himself

Ski scandal: Attempted fraud at race in Madonna

Christof Innerhofer is totally fed up.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Huge excitement surrounding a FIS giant slalom in Madonna di Campiglio: Apparently there was an attempt at cheating, as World Cup starter Christof Innerhofer announced.

In Friday's race, the multiple World Cup winner was in second place and his South Tyrolean compatriot Simon Maurberger was in first place after the first run. It has now become common practice in FIS races for World Cup starters not to go one hundred percent full throttle in order to give lesser-known racers the opportunity to collect valuable FIS points.

Simon Maurberger(Bild: GEPA pictures)

At the recent Swiss Slalom Championships, for example, Michelle Gisin slowed down shortly before the finish line on her way to a clear victory and helped her team-mate Nicole Good to first place.

Before the second run in Madonna, Innerhofer and Maurberger were reportedly asked whether they would now "take it easy" and leave the top places to lesser-known athletes. Both insisted that they were going for the win because they also needed the FIS points.

"Gate offset by one and a half meters"
What happened next is actually unbelievable. Before Innerhofer and Maurberger's runs, there was a long break and "a gate in the flat section was moved one and a half meters to the outside", Christof Innerhofer wrote indignantly in an Instagram story. According to the online portal skinews.ch, there is also video footage of the attempted cheating.

In the end, 19-year-old Marco De Zanna won ahead of Innerhofer and Maurberger. When the race jury was informed about the extremely questionable actions of the organizers, they reacted immediately and did not award any FIS points for the race. "I'm glad that the local jury made a decision immediately after this incident became known. I am now waiting for the documents and will forward them to the relevant FIS authorities," Janez Flere, technical and administrative coordinator at the ski association, is quoted as saying by skinews.ch.

The consequences for the organizers of the giant slalom are not yet known.