5 Women Ski Jumpers Eliminated In Acrimonious Circumstances

Let’s take a quick look at one of the weirdest things that could happen in ski jumping. Well, getting eliminated in ski jumping may not be a big deal, but having five athletes – of the same gender. Yeah, they were all women – getting disqualified over their “loose uniforms” may be something embarrassing.

This happened at the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022. The disqualified women are Sara Takanashi (Japan), Katharina Althaus (Germany), Silje Opseth and Anna Odine Strøm (both from Norway) and Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria). All five women were disqualified from the mixed ski jumping event. The judges had pronounced their kits too big, claiming the athletes would have an unfair advantage in the air over other competitors who had tighter uniforms.

With the explanations given by the judges, you could believe the disqualification was justified. Still, when you then realize that these athletes had already participated in earlier ski jumping events in the same uniforms, you could be forgiven if you think there was an agenda against women in the sports.

The reason given for the disqualification of the women came as a huge surprise for many who were unhappy about what had played out. There needs to be a review of the laws guiding the game, especially the suit regulations. This development should definitely raise eyebrows, and questions must be asked from the appropriate authorities. Note that females have only been permitted to partake in the ski jump Olympic events since 2014.