"Sticking the penis down"

Fraud in ski jumping: Austrian spills the beans!

Mika Vermeulen (right) is a thorn in the side of cheating in ski jumping. During the tournament, Slovenian Timi Zajc (left) was among those disqualified because of his suit.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/GEPA pictures)

Allegations of cheating are currently dominating the world of ski jumping. 26-year-old Austrian Mika Vermeulen, a cross-country skier and former Nordic combined athlete himself, is now revealing explosive details.

Vermeulen competed in ski jumping and Nordic combined from 2013 to 2018, won several junior world championship medals, and is now speaking out. On the Norwegian podcast "Skirious Problems," the 26-year-old described how athletes deliberately cheat in their intimate areas. "People were cheating all the time. They stuffed tons of plasticine into their underwear to achieve a bigger stride," said Vermeulen. The advantage is obvious: a bigger stride means more fabric in the suit and thus a larger surface area in the air.

"Taping down the penis"
It's an open secret that manipulation is commonplace. "When I was measured for the first time, older and more experienced jumpers came up to me and said: It's extremely important that you tape your penis, then your inseam will be one or two centimeters smaller," recalls the Austrian. However, he emphasized that these were athletes who are no longer active in the World Cup.

Mika Vermeulen(Bild: GEPA)

"All those whoaredisqualified are cheating deliberately."
Vermeulen's statements about the present were even more explosive: "I can say with 100% certainty: everyone who is disqualified in ski jumping or Nordic combined ischeating deliberately." The justification is always the same: everyone else is doing it too.

Vermeulen, who switched completely to cross-country skiing for the 2018/19 season, draws a clear comparison: "In cross-country skiing, you stick to the rules. In ski jumping, you consciously take risks, constantly push yourself to the limit, and think that's perfectly fine." That, he says, is the core problem, which is why he is calling for much tougher penalties.

"Dangerous culture"
Although the rules have been tightened and controls intensified, this is not enough. Currently, after two offenses, the penalty is only a two-competition ban. "This creates a bad and dangerous culture. A culture in which it is normal to constantly look for loopholes," Vermeulen sharply criticized.

Suit scandals have recently been the order of the day
Just last year, the Norwegian team was caught at the World Championships with manipulated suits, and controls were subsequently tightened. During the most recent Four Hills Tournament, there were also several disqualifications due to non-compliant suits. In addition, a report in the "Bild" newspaper caused a stir, claiming that jumpers could temporarily enlarge their penises with hyaluronic acid injections in order to gain an advantage in the measurements.

One thing is certain: the debate about cheating, morality, and consequences in ski jumping is likely to continue to occupy the sport for some time to come.