Even with a time difference to the events, both sides held on to their different perspectives.

After the disqualification of five athletes in mixed ski jumping, there were statements against statements for a long time.

Marc Heinrich

sports editor.

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Horst Hüttel, who is the sports director of the German Ski Association and is the team manager at the Olympic competitions in Zhangjiakou, attached importance to the statement that there was no unauthorized trickery on Katharina Althaus' jump suit.

The woman from Oberstdorf was excluded by the inspectors in the first round on Monday evening because her outfit is said not to have met the regulations.

"In no way," emphasized Hüttel, was there an unauthorized change to the sports outfit.

"We're not stupid," said the 53-year-old on Tuesday.

"It's the biggest showcase the girls have.

Nobody takes the risk, so I put my hand in the fire.”

In addition to Althaus, four other participants, including Daniela Iraschko-Stolz from Austria and the most experienced participant in the field with 61 World Cup successes, Sarah Takanashi from Japan, were excluded from the ranking because, according to the inspectors of the International Ski Federation (FIS), their special wardrobe did not comply with the regulations.

The Poles Aga Baczkowska and the Finns Mika Jukkara were used as official observers

.

Baczkowska commented on the allegations and said that she is not aware of any guilt.

“What am I supposed to do if someone jumps in a suit that is four inches too big?

So please!

You can see that with the naked eye," she said.

Baczkowska returned the criticism of her person with a verbal counter: "I didn't think that this could happen at the Olympics.

I assumed that the teams would prepare and take the competition seriously.”

Hüttel said that "of course you move within certain limits, but they were addressed and discussed in the individual competition and before that, but never exceeded".

He knows that Althaus “jumped with exactly the same suit as in the individual”.

At the weekend, there were no complaints about the equipment from the Oberstdorf native.

Althaus won silver.

The 25-year-old shared on social media that she was not doing well: "My heart is broken, disqualified for the first time in 160 World Cups, five World Championships and three Olympics," she wrote. And further: "Our names are now everyone there, and we played the arse card. That destroys nations, funding and the whole sport unfair." Althaus accused the FIS of having "destroyed" women's ski jumping.

According to the regulations, ski jumpers are measured from head to toe before the season;

data such as height, arm length, leg length, step length or weight are collected.

Based on the numbers recorded, the appropriate ski and suit material must be used for the jumps.

In Zhangjiakou, the stride length of the five protagonists' outfits was criticized.

According to the statutes, the suit may currently have a maximum distance of three centimeters from the body in the crotch.

Andreas Bauer, who used to be the national coach for the women at the DSV and is now a member of the Material Commission and the FIS Jumping Committee, also had a hard time with the world association.

The women were presented in front of an audience of millions.

"This is not how a sport should present itself on the world's largest sporting stage.

That was a scandal," he said in an interview with the "Stuttgarter Zeitung".

The Austrian Sepp Gratzer, who inspected the ski jumpers' equipment until last year, called the events shameful.

In an interview with the "Tiroler Tageszeitung", he criticized: "It was a disaster." His successor Jukkara was also to blame for the farce.

"I have the impression that he wants to change everything overnight and organize the control activities differently.

For me, he's not the right man on the pitch at the moment, I guess you were wrong," said Gratzer.

And, looking back on his own work, he added: “Our premise has always been: Material control should never be the main focus in a competition.

It is a marginal phenomenon that guarantees fairness and equal opportunities.

That obviously didn't work out in this case."