Winter Olympic legend Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards doesn’t believe that injecting hyaluronic acid into one’s penis will ‘offer much of an advantage’ to ski jumpers.
On Thursday, a saga known as ‘penis-gate’ took a surreal hold on the Games in Milan-Cortina, with unsubstantiated claims emerging that male ski jumpers have resorted to injecting the molecule, which is not currently banned in sports, into their genitals to gain a competitive advantage.
Scientific studies suggest that any increase in the surface area of a skinsuit can effectively turn the jumper into a human glider. The bigger the bulge, the further they fly.
A study in the journal, Frontiers, established that every two centimetres in suit circumference reduced drag by four per cent and increased lift by five per cent – equivalent to an extra 5.8 metres in jump length.
But Edwards, who became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in the sport at the Winter Olympics in Canada in 1988, said he would never have gone to such lengths just to gain a small advantage in competition.
‘I wouldn’t go that far at all. I didn’t want to win that much. I enjoy my love life too much to do that,’ Edwards told the Sun. ‘I wouldn’t want it to affect my love life for the next 30 years. I’m sure my partner now thinks I wouldn’t want to do it either.’
British Winter Olympic legend Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards has shared his thoughts on the ‘penis-gate’ scandal at Milan-Cortina
The World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate unsubstantiated claims that some skiers are enlarging their penises with acid to gain a sporting advantage
Ahead of this season and the Olympics, skiers were required to have their bodies measured using a 3D scanner.
When undergoing the scan, athletes must only wear ‘body-tight underwear’, as their crotch height is also measured to determine the size of their competitive suit. This is to ensure suits have a tolerance of only two to four centimetres, plus an additional three centimetres for a male’s crotch height.
This is to prevent athletes from tampering with their suits to gain an advantage.
But Edwards has laughed off suggestions that the use of hyaluronic acid injections into the male appendage would be advantageous, joking that ‘an-hour gust of wind would be more beneficial’.
‘When I heard the story, I nearly laughed my pants off. It’s a bit silly, really. They’re injecting to make their penises larger so that when they’re measured for a suit they get a slightly bigger suit.
‘Countries have always been trying to find an advantage. I think the Swedes once put webbing between their fingers in their gloves, elbows and legs. So that they could catch more air to fly further. Then that was all banned. Down the years, people have tried all the tricks.
‘When I was jumping I’d wear a suit probably two sizes bigger than me just for comfort because then it was easier for me to get into my jumping position. But now the ski jumping suits are like a second skin, they fit very, very tightly.
‘If it was one centimetre bigger, I don’t really think that would offer much of an advantage at all.’
Edwards believes the whole scandal is ‘a bit silly’ and he would never have resorted to injecting his appendage when competing
The World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate the penis enlargement scandal if evidence emerges that athletes are using the bizarre method to improve their performance at the Games.
New measures, including tamper-proof microchips, and a new penalty system have been introduced to prohibit the alteration of suits.
Those penalties include a yellow and red card policy for equipment violations, similar to the penalty system in soccer. A yellow card is a warning and a red card means disqualification.
The ski jumping competition at the Games begins on Monday.
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