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Livigno: One of the biggest controversies of Milano Cortina 2026 was a puerile myth – or so we thought.
In the lead-up to the Winter Olympics, German newspaper Bild alleged – without evidence – that male ski-jumpers were having hyaluronic acid injected into their penises to increase the surface area of their suits and, in turn, enable them to jump further.
All eyes have been on the ski jumping in Predazzo. Credit: Getty Images
The science checks out – but no names were named, no serious allegations were levelled towards any individuals, and the story was categorised as a massive beat-up.
Only a brief line from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s president, Witold Banka – “I’m going to look at it”, he told reporters who had thrown him up a “Hail Mary” question in a pre-Olympics press conference – kept the story from the graveyard of dead yarns.
That was despite the fact, as pointed out by columnist Darren Kane, hyaluronic acid is not on WADA’s banned list. Then it all went away, and we moved on.
Now, penis-gate is back with a vengeance.
Reports of skiers undergoing penis enlargements to give them a boost in the air started to circulate last month.Credit: Simon Letch
USA Today has published correspondence with a leading authority on penoplasty (and scrotoplasty) who has admitted to having performed the procedure on an unnamed ski jumper.
Italian plastic surgeon Alessandro Littara, who says he has injected hyaluronic acid into more than 3000 penises during his decades-long career, has revealed he carried out the procedure on a jumper who told him he was experiencing embarrassment in the dressing room after competition.
And it happened recently.
“Regarding the news in question, I did in fact treat an athlete from that sport, whose name and nationality I will obviously not disclose, nor whether he is participating in these Olympics,” Littara told the website in an email.
“However, I can say that I treated him last month and used a generous dose of hyaluronic acid.
“I cannot say whether he told me the whole truth … but in any case, we did a good job and implanted a more than generous dose of hyaluronic acid.”
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), which governs ski jumping, has maintained that the story is “pure hearsay”.
FIS communications director Bruce Sassi has repeatedly delivered what appears to be a stock statement on the matter to multiple outlets: “There has never been any indication, let alone evidence, that any competitor has ever made use of a hyaluronic acid injection to attempt to gain a competitive advantage.”
Littara’s revelation drags the matter back into the spotlight.
The Olympic ski jumping competitions wrapped up on Monday.
The Winter Olympic Games is broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.
