The Empire Strikes Back: Austria claims additional Olympic quota spots

The saga of reallocated Olympic quota spots continues as four more athletes gained Olympic berths through a last-minute effort by the Austrian Ski Federation, bringing the ÖSV to the maximum Olympic team size. One athlete from France and Germany were also added to their respective national Olympic teams, after the ÖSV challenged the legitimacy of quota spots that were gained by “exotic” athletes through questionable FIS races in Malbun, Lichtenstein.

As stated in the press release from ÖSV:

“The confirmation from the IOC/FIS arrived at the last second today that the Austrian participation quota for the alpine men is, as originally planned, 11 athletes. This was a great relief for head coach Andreas Puelacher, who now also has giant slalom specialist Stefan Brennsteiner and speed (skier) Max Franz available in the China squad.”

—Austrian Ski Federation

“We are pleased that the IOC and the International Ski Federation have found a good solution. With Max Franz and Stefan Brennsteiner, two additional alpine gentlemen can be named. The Olympic Team Austria finally includes 106 athletes.”

—Austrian Olympic Committee Secretary General Peter Mennel

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee tells Reuters:

“The (FIS) has informed the IOC that the results of some qualifying events in Alpine Skiing for (Beijing) which were held under the authority of FIS are under review. … FIS has requested the IOC to increase the quota for Alpine Skiing by four. In the interest of all athletes concerned, the IOC has decided to accept the request by FIS and will grant four additional quota places in Alpine Skiing.”

—International Olympic Committee

At the heart of the controversy, uncovered in this Ski Racing editorial by Federiga Bindi, are three sets of races, in Dubai, Montenegro and Liechtenstein. All three sets of races were staged earlier this season for the benefit of athletes from small, non-skiing nations aka, “the Exotics,” seeking opportunities to meet the FIS benchmark of 160 points needed to gain entry into Olympic competition. 

Details of the races include many unusual circumstances, including athletes who either wildly under- or over-performed; extraordinarily small field sizes with carefully curated participants; and race penalties that exponentially lowered some FIS scores to bring athletes “miraculously” beneath the 160-point threshold. Among other FIS rules that may have been broken, as alleged through anonymous sources, are those that disqualify competitors who “accept or have accepted, directly or indirectly, any money-payments for the participation at competitions.”

As explained in this article on Olympic team qualification, the total number of alpine skiing athletes for the Olympics had already been reduced from 320 in 2018 to 306 in 2022 — with maximum participation for men down 35 spots due to gender parity. Those who secured Olympic quota spots solely through the races in question helped increase the total number of countries that qualified from 80 in 2018 to 85 in 2022. In all, the three sets of races yielded nine spots to athletes from Saudi Arabia, India, Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Jamaica, Ghana, East Timor, Montenegro and Morocco. Each athlete directly takes the place of a full-time World Cup racer on the Olympic Winter Games 2022 Allocation List.

At least one vocal race participant took to Instagram to defend his case:

The FIS decision appeases the ÖSV and appears to acknowledge the wrongdoing in the Malbun races, yet does not penalize the athletes who benefitted through them. The additional Olympic spots awarded by the FIS were not taken from the athletes who competed in the controversial races in Malbun. Rather, the spots were added to the previously established maximum of 153 spots per gender, overriding both the limit on total Olympic spots and the purported gender parity. There are now 157 men and 152 women competing in Beijing. 

The press release from ÖSV confirms that Austria, having filled its maximum Olympic quota, no longer has a dog in the fight, nor an incentive to push for further investigation into the alleged infractions. As Peter Schröcksnadel, former ÖSV president and now FIS vice president, told DerStandard, “Austria has 11 starting places in the alpine men. We have corrected everything in the FIS. We have regulated it,” via translation.

The statement hardly puts to rest the issue of unfair play, but indicates that the baton now lies in the hands of the nations with the next five athletes on “The List,” in order, Italy, Norway, France, U.S. and Canada.