Photo: Wikimedia
Ski jumpers have been accused of augmenting their penises for competitive gain. The controversy, dubbed “penisgate” by the press, may soon prompt Olympic anti-doping authorities to investigate.
The issue reached the ears of Olympic officials at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) press conference Thursday. As The Guardian reports, the agency was asked about recent rumors that ski jumpers were artificially enhancing their penises in order to jump farther.
“I am not aware of the details of ski jumping and how this can help,” said WADA director-general Olivier Niggli. “If anything were to come to the surface, we would look at anything if it were doping-related.” He added that it was the first time he had heard of the issue, and that they do not address any non-doping means of enhancing performance.
“Ski jumping is very popular in Poland, so I promise you I’m going to look at it,” added WADA president Witold Banka.
Though the question sounds like a joke (and elicited a smile from Banka), the question of whether ski jumpers have been doping by augmenting their penises has been an ongoing topic. The issue was first reported by the German newspaper Bild, which claims that athletes have been putting clay in their underwear, or even injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises, in order to trick the 3D scanners used to measure them for suits. The resulting suits are baggier than normal, which creates more drag from the jump and allows them to fly farther.
“It is possible to achieve a temporary, visual thickening of the penis by injecting paraffin or hyaluronic acid,” Doctor Kamran Karim, a senior consultant at Maria-Hilf Hospital in Krefeld, told the tabloid. “Such an injection is not medically indicated and is associated with risks.”
Though Bild did not provide any hard evidence backing up these claims, it wouldn’t be the first time jumpers have been sanctioned for augmenting their crotches. Last year, it was discovered that the Norwegian ski team had secretly adjusted the seams around their crotches at the 2025 World Ski Championships. As a result, Norway’s head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten were given 18-month bans, and skiers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang were given three-month suspensions.
