Ski crosser Daniela Maier has to give back her bronze medal from the Olympic Games in Beijing. The competent commission of the International Ski Federation FIS thus granted a protest by the Swiss Ski Federation Swiss Ski against the result of the race on February 17th. Bronze now goes to Swiss Fanny Smith, who was initially downgraded to fourth place after the final by the jury because of Maier’s disability.
The German Ski Association (DSV) was caught off guard by the decision on the sidelines of the Alpine World Cup races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but does not want to let the FIS decision stand. “We will examine all legal steps in coordination with the DOSB,” said DSV spokesman Ralph Eder of the sports information service.
According to its own statements, the responsible FIS Appeal Committee examined the video recordings of the race over four hours over the course of four sessions and also checked written recordings. Smith’s action shortly before the finish, which was rated as a handicap, was punished with a yellow card in the competition on February 17. She was then downgraded to fourth place. Shortly before the finish, Smith got into Maier’s ski line with her left ski and obstructed it – but the FIS now rated this as a contact “that could not have been prevented” and therefore only had an “official warning”. allowed to drag. According to the regulations, however, a warning does not result in any further sanctions.
“Of course I’m relieved about this decision,” Smith is quoted as saying in a statement from Swiss Ski, “because I was always convinced that I hadn’t made a mistake. At the same time, it hurts for Daniela Maier, who is now suffering from the situation .” In fact, after crossing the finish line, Maier did not consider the situation in question to be punishable for her competitor. “No, no, no, no, no,” she exclaimed during the minute-long review of the scene by the race jury, shaking her head over and over again: “It was just normal ski cross.”