Norway’s Olympic gold medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang have accepted three-month suspensions for their role in the tampering of ski suits during a competition in March, the International Ski Federation (FIS) said on Saturday.
Lindvik and Forfang, together with two coaches and a service staff member, were charged this month over equipment manipulation in the men’s large hill event at the World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway in March after an FIS investigation.
Lindvik finished second but was denied the silver medal having been disqualified following an equipment inspection along with Forfang who came fourth.
The Norwegian Ski Federation admitted after the competition that the team had manipulated the suits but said the ski jumpers were not at fault for the violations.
The FIS Ethics Commission said Lindvik and Forfang had admitted to breaching competition rules and had agreed that they should have asked questions about the adjustments to their suits.
“Johann Forfang and Marius Lindvik are therefore willing to accept the proposed sanctions of a period of ineligibility of 3 months, from which the period of the provisional suspension already served shall be deducted,” ruling body said in a statement.
The pair have also agreed to pay fines of CHF 2,000 ($2,500) each.
“In our view, the case shows that routines for communication between the support staff handling equipment and suits, and the athletes, should be improved to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future,” their lawyers said in a statement.
The suspensions are due to end well before next year’s Milano-Cortina Olympics where Lindvik will hope to defend his men’s Olympic large hill title. Forfang won the large hill team gold and normal hill individual silver at the 2018 Olympics.
($1 = 0.8013 Swiss francs)
