Gyda Westvold Hansen swops Nordic combined for ski jumping to reach Olympics

OSLO – Norwegian world champion in Nordic combined, Gyda Westvold Hansen, has switched to ski jumping in pursuit of a place at the upcoming Olympics.

Nordic combined remains the only Winter Olympic discipline closed to women, despite the sport now featuring a World Cup circuit and world championships, where Westvold Hansen has claimed five golds across the last three editions, with two of them at the recent edition in March.

At the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympics in February, only men will compete in the sport that brings together ski jumping and cross-country, with Westvold Hansen having previously protested the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to include a women’s event.

“I’m taking the only chance I have to get to the Olympics this winter, and that is to focus on ski jumping,” she told Norwegian media.

“The Olympics mean a lot. It’s the biggest thing for every athlete.

“It’s something I haven’t taken part in before, but it has been a major motivation for me for many years.”

The 23-year-old will now aim for a spot in Norway’s women’s ski jumping team.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Olympic gold medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang have accepted three-month suspensions for their role in the tampering of ski suits during a competition in March, the International Ski Federation (FIS) said on Aug 23.

Lindvik and Forfang, together with two coaches and a service staff member, were charged in August over equipment manipulation in the men’s large hill event at the World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, in March after an FIS investigation.

Lindvik finished second but was denied the silver, having been disqualified following an equipment inspection, along with Forfang who came fourth.

The Norwegian Ski Federation admitted after the competition that the team had manipulated the suits, but said the ski jumpers were not at fault for the violations.

The FIS ethics commission said Lindvik and Forfang had admitted to breaching competition rules and had agreed that they should have asked questions about the adjustments to their suits.

“Johann Forfang and Marius Lindvik are therefore willing to accept the proposed sanctions of a period of ineligibility of three months, from which the period of the provisional suspension already served shall be deducted,” the ruling body said in a statement.

The pair have also agreed to pay fines of 2,000 Swiss francs (S$3,195) each.

“In our view, the case shows that routines for communication between the support staff handling equipment and suits, and the athletes, should be improved to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future,” their lawyers said in a statement.

The suspensions are due to end well before Milano-Cortina 2026, where Lindvik, 27, will hope to defend his men’s Olympic large hill title.

Forfang, 30, won the large hill team gold and normal hill individual silver at the 2018 Games. REUTERS