In the quest for Olympic gold, professional athletes endure hardships that might seem unfathomable to most of us mere mortals. But do those lengths extend to ski jumpers injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further?
That is the question the World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate since such startling allegations emerged first in the German newspaper Bild in what has now been dubbed “Penisgate”.
Bild has claimed that athletes have injected the acid into their penises to game the system when they are measured for their suits, which is tightly regulated to prevent any athlete having an aerodynamic advantage.
While the result of that investigation is pending, other questions remain: why would a ski jumper want to tamper with their penis, is it safe, and what does it have to do with aerodynamics?
What does injecting hyaluronic acid do to the penis?
Hyaluronic acid is a common filler used in cosmetic surgery, including injections being used for penile girth enlargement surgery, Prof Eric Chung, a urological surgeon, says.
Injecting a penis with hyaluronic acid would make it bigger girth-wise, “but you would need to inject a lot of hyaluronic acid,” says Chung, who was previously the leader of the andrology specialty advisory group for the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand.
Hyaluronic acid is temporary in effect and needs a top-up every six to 12 months depending on absorption and migration of the particles, Chung says.
How does penis size affect ski jumping?
Before the start of the season, ski jumpers have to have their suits made up based on the measurements of their body length, including crotch height determined by an FIS-approved 3D body scanner in the presence of a doctor, stripped down to their underwear and with particular stipulations around posture.
The dimensions of that suit is strictly regulated because the total size of the suit can have a “significant effect” on the amount of lift that you can generate, which allows them to jump further, says Associate Prof Dan Dwyer, from Deakin University’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.
Enlarging the penis with hyaluronic acid could provide a benefit when the athlete is subject to this standardised body measurement process, as the dimensions recorded of their body would be larger than they might have been otherwise, which then allows them to be permitted to have a slightly larger ski suit made, Dwyer says. “And that slightly larger ski suit has a larger surface area which can then generate a small amount of extra lift.”
Sandro Pertile, the men’s race director for the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), says “every extra centimetre on a suit counts. If your suit has a 5% bigger surface area, you fly further. Of course, this is a competitive sport and everyone’s on the limit with the rules because everyone wants to win.”
What are the risks?
Chung warns injecting a penis with hylauronic acid carries significant risks both in the short and long term.
“Poorly injected technique or incorrect dose would cause penile pain, poor cosmesis [disfigurement], deformity, infection, inflammation, sensory change, and sexual dysfunction. In rare instances, infection can spread to cause gangrene (tissue necrosis) and loss of the penis.”
