More Suspensions in Ski Jumping Cheating Scandal
12th March 2025
Last modified on March 13th, 2025
Another three Norwegian ski jumpers have been suspended by the sport’s governing body as an investigation into cheating at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim continues. Five athletes and three officials have now been suspended following the discovery that ski suits were deliberately manipulated to improve performance. UPDATED
On Thursday, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) notified three more athletes in Norway’s Men’s Ski Jumping team that they are under investigation by the FIS Ethics and Compliance Office for their alleged involvement in illegal equipment manipulation.
Robin Pedersen, Kristoffer Sundal and Robert Johansson, members of the Norwegian team that competed at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, have been provisionally suspended with immediate effect from participating in FIS events and events organised by a National Ski Association.
It follows the earlier suspension of two Norwegian ski jumpers, Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang, and three officials – the National Team Coach, Magnus Brevik, Equipment Manager, Adrian Livelten, and assistant coach Thomas Lobben.
The three officials are said to have been directly involved in the deliberate manipulation of suits to reinforce them and improve stability in the air.
The Chair of the Ski Jumping Committee of the Norwegian Ski Federation, Stine Korsen, said there had been deliberate manipulation in violation of FIS regulations in order to gain an advantage in the competition.
Lindvik and Forfang, who wore the suits in the men’s individual large hill competition at the weekend, said they had no idea their suits had been manipulated.
Lindvik finished second and Forfang fourth before the cheating was discovered and they were disqualified.
Lindvik, who won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, said on social media that he was broken and sad.
Forfang said he was beyond devastated.
“This is a heartbreaking situation, not just for me, but everyone who loves our sport,” he said.
The three new suspensions followed the seizure by FIS of all the jumping suits used by Norwegian teams at Trondheim 2025 – in both Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined and in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
Inspections found no irregularities in the equipment used by the Women’s Ski Jumping team or in the the Men’s or Women’s Nordic Combined teams.
However, the suits used by the Men’s Ski Jumping team raised additional suspicions of manipulation, which resulted in the provisional suspensions of Pedersen, Sundal and Johansson.
Ski Jumping. Image c/o PlanetSKI
In a statement issued before the latest suspensions, FIS Secretary General, Michel Vion, said the situation was “obviously extremely disturbing and disappointing.”
He added: “Since the weekend, both the FIS Independent Ethics and Compliance Office and the FIS administration have been working steadily to proceed with a broad and thorough investigation as swiftly as possible while also ensuring fairness and due process.
“By its nature, Ski Jumping is a discipline grounded in precision, in which equipment plays an important role.
“This is why, year after year, we have a strong focus on reviewing equipment regulations and controls: to ensure that competitors are on a level playing field.
“The only thing that matters to FIS is to leave this process 100% convinced that the sport is free from any form of manipulation.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that respect and fairness prevail – in this specific case and across our entire ecosystem.
“This means keeping reviewing the entire process and, if the conclusion is that there should be drastic changes to the equipment regulations, this is what we will do.”
It has come as a blow to the many Norwegians who follow ski jumping and all the Nordic disciplines.
The country is a powerhouse in the sports and multiple medal winner.
Nordic World Championships. Image © PlanetSKI
The sports, though, are no strangers to cheating, though usually it is in the form of drug taking.
PlanetSKI was at the World Championships in Seefeld in Austria in 2019 when the event was rocked by scandal as the police broke up a highly-organised drug ring and made several arrests.
Initially, after the scandal broke last weekend, the Norwegian Ski Federation suspended the National Team Coach, Magnus Brevik and Equipment Manager, Adrian Livelten – for being directly involved in the cheating.
Later it announced that a third person in the support staff of the national ski jumping team had also been suspended.
Thomas Lobben, assistant coach, consented to his suspension from his position with immediate effect.
According to the Norwegian Ski Federation’s Acting Secretary General Ola Keul, Lobben admitted he was involved in the decision to manipulate the jump suits.
“The cheating that led to the disqualification of Lindvik and Forfang during the World Championships in Trondheim is both sad and shocking,” said Ski President, Tove Moe Dyrhaug.
“It has far-reaching consequences both for us as an organisation and for the sports we represent.”
As part of the FIS investigation, the governing body demanded that all the suits used by the Norwegians for both the ski jumping and combined events at the World Championships be handed over.
Trondheim Nordic World Ski Championships 2025
The Norwegians said on Tuesday that they had collected all the suits from various locations across the country and handed them to FIS in Oslo.
“With the information we have now been made aware of, there is nothing to fear with such a check of the jump suits, but we see the need for FIS to conduct an independent check of this in order for the conclusion to be credible,” said Tove Moe Dyrhaug.
A statement published on the the Norwegian federation’s website on Tuesday said: “It is crucial for the trust in Norwegian ski jumping and the entire Ski Federation, that we cooperate fully with the FIS investigation. When the conclusions from this investigation are reached, it will be natural for us to assess whether there is a need for further investigations or measures under the auspices of the Norwegian Ski Federation.”
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