Finland ski jumping head coach overdid it with alcohol at the Olympics
Igor Medved, head coach of the Finnish ski jumping team, was sent home early from the Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo due to his violation of alcohol rules, Yle.fi reports .
Igor Medved. Photo: Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva
According to Janne Hänninen, head of the Finnish Olympic team, the incident that led to this decision did not occur during Medved's duties, so the details of the incident are not being disclosed.
Igor Medved himself admitted his guilt in an official statement, expressed regret, and stated that he "is not proud of himself." He apologized to the athletes, coaches, and fans of the Finnish team, noting that he wants the team to be able to focus on the competition and continue their work.
Medved said that the incident occurred on February 10 in Predazzo after the Slovenian ski jumping team won a gold medal in the mixed team competition. Igor Medved himself is Slovenian, so this victory was not alien to him. The coach explained:
"After the competition, I was invited to celebrate Slovenia's gold medal. I hadn't eaten anything, and alcohol did its job."
Medved emphasized that, despite his actions, he is proud of his team and the work done in Finland over the past two years. He also noted that he wants to allow the athletes to work calmly and minimize the harm he caused.
Igor Medved is 44 years old, a former Slovenian ski jumper, and has been the head coach of the Finnish national team since 2024.
After six days of competition at the Olympics in ski jumping, three of the six sets of medals have already been awarded, and the Finnish "flying skiers," unlike the Slovenians, have not yet won any awards. In those unfortunate mixed team competitions for Medved, the Finns remained in 6th position out of 12 teams, and in individual competitions, the best result so far is Vilho Palosaari's 14th place in the men's normal hill jump.
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