Two Winter Olympians DQ’d over banned substance – | Sports News

South Korean Winter Olympics cross-nation skiers Han Dasom and Lee Eui-jin have been disqualified after a banned substance was discovered on their skis. The tools was discovered to be contaminated with fluorinated wax, a substance that has been prohibited for the previous three years.

The substance, additionally referred to as “fluor,” is a sort of wax that turned fashionable with skiers within the Eighties for its means to reinforce glide. It was really banned back in 2019 as a result of of its poisonous affect on the surroundings, as “fluor” doesn’t biodegrade. However, the disqualifications weren’t anticipated to have an effect on the medal standings for the Winter Olympic occasion.

Reports advised that some opponents could also be injecting hyaluronic acid into their genital space in an attempt to gain a aggressive benefit. Ski fits are tightly regulated and should match an athlete’s actual physique measurements, that are recorded earlier than every season utilizing a 3D scanner that calculates stride size from the bottom level of the genital area.

A barely bigger go well with can improve efficiency by growing floor space, decreasing descent pace, and enhancing stability. Theoretically, male ski jumpers might gain an edge by artificially enlarging their genital measurements.

Allegedly, some athletes use hyaluronic acid injections to govern these measurements earlier than scanning, although no competitor has been formally charged. At final 12 months’s World Championships, Team Norway was caught altering the crotch space of their competitors fits.

In a touching tribute, Botn devoted his Olympic glory to his late teammate and best pal, Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who handed away two days earlier than Christmas final 12 months. Botn discovered the lifeless physique of Bakken in his lodge room at their Italian coaching base. “The emotions were that I was racing with him the entire last loop,” stated Botn, who shouted, “Yes, Sivert, we did it,” as he crossed the road within the males’s 20km occasion after a flawless show of clean capturing.

“It was more like a feeling of crossing the finish line together, and seeing the number beside my name was really special. I was just looking up in the sky and hoping that he was watching and hoping that he was proud of me. For us, a gold is one thing, but the other thing is the feeling when you’re thinking about Sivert, and I think everyone on the team is just hoping that he’s proud of what we have done and what we have accomplished.”