The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has been asked to investigate extraordinary claims that ski jumpers are injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid to gain a competitive advantage. The allegations, first reported by German newspaper Bild, have been dubbed 'Penisgate' and emerged after Norway's ski jumping team was caught manipulating suits at the 2025 World Ski Championships.
Wada president Witold Bańka responded with a wry smile, saying: 'Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I’m going to look at it.' The claims suggest that athletes may be using injections or placing clay in their underwear to temporarily increase genital measurements during suit fitting, allowing for looser suits that reduce drag and increase jump length.
Last year, Norwegian Olympic medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang received three-month suspensions for secretly adjusting suit seams in the crotch area. Head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten were banned for 18 months. A study in Frontiers found that a 2cm increase in suit circumference reduces drag by 4% and increases lift by 5%, equivalent to an extra 5.8 metres in jump length.
Bild quoted Dr Kamran Karim, who said: 'It is possible to achieve a temporary, visual thickening of the penis by injecting paraffin or hyaluronic acid. Such an injection is not medically indicated and is associated with risks.' No hard evidence has yet emerged, but Wada director general Olivier Niggli stated: 'If anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping related.'
