Cock Controversy @ Winter Olympics

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World Anti-Doping Agency bosses 'will look at' claims of penis enlargement in ski jumping

The surface area of the suit in ski jumping plays a huge role.

In anti-doping matters, there are precious few matters to laugh about.

So when the subject of penis enhancement came up in the WADA press conference at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday, there were more than a few chuckles and smiles.

Nevertheless, World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Bańka told journalists he would investigate suspicions that ski jumpers were using injections to artificially enhance their penises to help performance on the slopes.

"Ski jumping is very popular in Poland," Bańka said, more than a hint of a smile on his face.

"I promise I will look at it."

Witold Bańka (left) and Olivier Niggli were a little taken aback by the question.

A penis enlargement scandal may sound like an infantile joke thought up by schoolboys in the playground to test the teacher's patience and make their classmates snigger.

But last month, German newspaper Bild reported claims that skiers were taking extraordinary measures to gain an advantage, including by injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to enlarge them.

One may reasonably ask why this is an issue, but it is important because ski jumpers are highly dependent on utilising the surface area of their suits to generate lift as they fly through the air.

Suit dimensions for each athlete are strictly regulated on an individual basis.

In part, the overall permitted dimensions are dictated by an athlete's stride length, with the lowest point of their crotch area determined by 3D modelling.

If the genitals are larger and therefore hang lower, a larger suit will be needed. That would help their flight by generating more lift, much like a wing suit helps skydivers glide long distances.

"I am not aware of the details of ski jumping and how this can help," WADA director-general Olivier Niggli said at WADA's press conference in Milan.

"If anything were to come to the surface, we would look at anything if it were doping-related.

"Our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall in this category, but I haven't heard about this until you mentioned it."

Marius Lindvik was banned for three months for suit manipulation. (Getty Images: Tom Weller)

The topic has been widely discussed in Milan, with Austrian cross-country skier Mika Vermeulen telling the Skirious Problems podcast he co-hosts with British skier James Clugnet that cheating was widespread.

Vermeulen, who used to compete in Nordic combined as a junior, said jumpers used to place lumps of plasticine in their underwear to lower their measurements. However, he acknowledged he had not been in the sport for a few years and could not say how widespread it was.

Suit manipulation is a big deal in ski jumping, with officials taking to microchipping suits to ensure they are not changed after being scrutinised.

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In Beijing, five women's ski jumpers were disqualified from the mixed team competition for having oversized suits.

This year, Slovenian jumper Timi Zajc was excluded from the Four Hills Tournament because his suit was too short.

But the biggest scandal came last year: five Norwegian jumpers and three staff members were suspended for modifying suits with a sewing machine.

Head coach Magnus Brevik was given an 18-month suspension, while defending large hill Olympic gold medallist Marius Lindvik and 2018 Olympic large hill champion Johann André Forfang were banned for three months.