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Summary
- Controversy at 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over disqualifications
- 5 Female skiers disqualified over their outfits being too loose
- Skiers express disappointment and anger at crazy rules
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is currently underway and will come to a close on Feb 20.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the Beijing Winter Olympics before it could start and controversy continues to be a big part of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Officials Disqualify 5 Female Skiers
A number of female skiers took to social media to express their frustrations and shock after they were disqualified because of their outfits. Female skiers from Japan, Norway, Austria and Germany were informed of their disqualification because their outfits did not meet the criteria outlined in the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) rules.
Their outfits were deemed as too loose according to the rules as a loose outfit is expected to give the skier an unfair advantage over the rest of the competition. The sudden disqualification not only upset the 5 female skiers but also their coaches who felt that the decision was completely outrageous and controversial.
Horst Hutte, who is the German head for all Nordic events, said that the entire situation seemed like a parody except no one was laughing as the disqualifications took out four of the biggest ski nations in the world.
Female Skiers Devastated With Disqualification
The distraught female skiers took to social media to inform their followers of what happened and to share how devastated they were with the decision. Their disappointment can be felt as these skiers have trained and prepared for the 2022 Beijing Olympics for years and pushed on even with COVID-19 playing havoc the last couple of years.
Katharina Althaus, a silver medallist for Germany was one of the 5 athletes that was disqualified for her loose outfit. Althaus outlined her credentials on Instagram saying that she took part in 3 Olympics, 5 World Championships, 160 World Cup starts over 11 years and this was the first time in her career that she was disqualified.
Althaus said she felt that her suit was compliant as it was cleared a day earlier when they all jumped and were not disqualified.
Karl Geiger another German skier said she wondered what happened for the regulations to change overnight. Althaus criticized the FIS and said that they had destroyed female ski jumping!
