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The Ski Tour is decided in the midst of a pandemic and the International Ski Federation (Fis) has taken several measures to minimize the spread of the infection.
One of them: Everyone should wear a mouth guard.
For runners, this means that the mouth guard must be on when they hit the track and then must be put back on immediately after the race. Leaders shouldn’t even remove their mouth guards.
But this has not been followed by everyone during the first two stages of the Ski Tour.
Warned at the team leader meeting
According to information from SportExpressen, the competition leadership issued a strong warning at Friday’s team leaders meeting: If the carelessness with mouth guards continues, there will be severe penalties. In the worst case, skiers and leaders can get rid of their badges and thus be expelled from the Tour de ski.
The information is confirmed by the competition director, Pierre Mignerey.
– Yesterday they were just warnings, but today we will pay a fine and… if people do not follow the rules, we will take away their accreditation for the rest of the tour, says Mignerey when SportExpressen meets him outside the jury room in Val Müstair.
– Step by step, I think people will understand that this is important.
Despite the warning, several skiers and leaders were careless with their mouth guards in connection with Saturday’s competitions in Val Müstair.
“All cases will be reported”
Russian superstar Natalya Neprjajeva, for example, did not wear a mouth guard when she walked away from the arena. Nor did her national team colleague Julia Stupak, who finished second behind Linn Svahn in the mass outing, also did not wear a mouth guard when she first gave a lengthy interview with Russian television and then danced towards the wall trailer.
– In the interview area, the use of a mouth guard is not a requirement, just a strong recommendation. The reason for this is that we have a barrier that creates a social distancing between carriers and journalists. But in other areas it is a requirement, says Pierre Mignerey.
What happens now?
– First of all we need proof that people have been careless with mouth guards and I have already received photos from some trainers. We will act against this. All cases will be reported to the jury.
Byström on mouth guards
The head of the Swedish national team, Anders Byström, was present at the team leaders’ meeting where Fis warned that they will punish all those who neglect mouth guards.
Expect there to be some cases this weekend.
– Now I saw that Pierre Mignerey was taking photos with his mobile phone a little hidden in his chest today, so some may hear of Fis today, says Byström.
what do you think about it?
– That it is good that they are pressing for this. That is important.
If you see a skier from another country not following the rules, will you report it then?
– I don’t think you should be careless like that. In that case, they will probably contact that nation and say that we have seen that they do not take care of themselves.
– But pointing people to achieve sporting success… no, I don’t want to be so mean in any case.
FACTS: The general classification in the Tour de ski (ladies)
1) Linn Svahn, Sweden
2) Jessie Diggins, US +13.0
3) Frida Karlsson, Sweden +18.0
4) Rosie Brennan, USA +20.0
5) Anamarija Lampic, Slovenia +40.0
6) Nadine Fähndrich, Switzerland +43.0
7) Tatjana Sorina, Russia +53.0
8) Julia Stupak, Russia +56.0
9) Natalya Neprjajeva, Russia +1: 12.0
10) Maja Dahlqvist, Sweden +1: 15.0
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