Controversy in ski jumping? Really?
As the field soared through Friday’s qualifying for the large hill individual event, Swiss star Simon Ammann rejoiced after he was cleared to keep using his modified bindings. It means he also gets to keep the gold medal he won on the normal hill event Saturday.
“The system has been used within the last two years,” Ammann said, “and other guys have used it … we just did it probably a little bit better.”
While normal bindings use an elastic strap at the back to keep the boot in place, in the Swiss version the boot is attached to a curved iron stick that bends forward as the jumper leans his body almost parallel to his skis.
Oddly, the team that submitted the protest, Austria, features four jumpers who qualified Nos. 2-5, right behind Ammann in the 50-man field.
