Wax makes skis faster. However, the fluorine it often contains pollutes the environment and has therefore now been banned.
Photo: imago/Xinhua
Germany’s cross-country skiers have already completed the first test run of a new era. In Muonio, Finland, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, the team led by Olympic champion Katharina Hennig celebrated four victories in international preparation races. The successes were accompanied by vague suspicions from the competition regarding material doping. “The German successes are viewed like a hawk,” says team boss Peter Schlickenrieder. “The stronger a nation is, the more suspicions there will be about fluorowax.”
The fluorowax ban is the big topic this ski winter and it’s throwing an entire scene into turmoil. Starting this season, the use of the most popular lubricant under the boards is banned for the first time in all disciplines of the World Ski and Snowboard Association (Fis) and the International Biathlon Union (IBU). This has ecological and health reasons. Certain fluorine compounds (C8) are suspected of being carcinogenic. In addition, they are not degradable in nature.
Peter Schlickenrieder therefore believes that “just as with the issue of doping, it is ethically right that we are having this fluorine discussion and have taken action.” Winter sports in particular are dependent on nature and have a moral obligation to protect it: “We approach the issue in the same way as we approach the doping problem: a zero-tolerance policy applies. Fluorine-free: We adhere to this 100 percent in the World Cup area.«
So far, so right. However, the fluorine wax ban brings with it a whole range of problems. This was already shown at the start of the Alpine World Cup in Sölden, where the Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel was disqualified. According to Fis, the measurement of her skis showed “a significantly increased fluorine value”. Before the race, according to the ski company, the service man checked with the boards and the same preparation and the traffic light in the device showed “green”.
A number of possible causes for the disaster that occurred in the ski scene during the first acid test were discussed. On the one hand, there are the measuring devices, which cost around 30,000 euros and use infrared spectroscopy to measure the proportion of polyfluorinated chemicals on the ski surface. A value between 0 and 1 is permitted, although the measuring devices have an error tolerance of 0.8. Very problematic when the whole thing decides between victory, defeat and lots of prize money. According to Charly Waibel, science trainer for the German Ski Association (DSV), different devices had given different results in tests on the same ski.
The whole thing becomes even more complicated because theoretically contamination from fluorine compounds is also conceivable during the competition. In the 1980s, this type of wax was discovered as legal material doping in skiing. This means that a lot of fluorine residues are likely to be found on the cross-country ski trails, slopes and ski jumps around the world. The waxes are not yet banned in popular sports. »There is a risk of contamination and thus disqualification. Tarnish marks, wax containers and other locations contain fluorine potential. We simply can’t control everything,” says national ski jumping coach Stefan Horngacher. In the case of Mowinckel, a cork that had previously been used to distribute the wax on the skis was said to have been responsible for the contamination.
The DSV is trying everything possible, including purchasing four expensive measuring devices. »The technicians dismantled the interior of the entire wax truck into its smallest individual parts, cleaned it and reassembled it. “You have put in an incredible number of hours,” reports cross-country skiing coach Schlickenrieder to “nd”. In addition, courses were offered to all team members on topics such as cleaning gloves and equipment and explained why the athletes are no longer allowed to touch the running surfaces of the skis with their gloves. The team boss sees his team, which has grown together communicatively over the past five years, as prepared as possible for the new rules and is still pretty sure that “there will be false positive tests: But we will get through that too together. There will be no apportionment of blame.”
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As always in such high-performance situations, there will also be athletes and nations that will explore the tolerance ranges and measurement methods. Science coach Waibel recently explained in “Merkur” that he fears “a culture of cheating like in cycling in the 90s.” There is, for example, the trick of covering fluorine-containing compounds with other wax on the ski. After a certain distance of competition including abrasion, you would then have the fluorine advantage. That’s why the FIs also want to test after the competition – of course, a transfer after the finish will result in disqualification.
In order to prevent manipulation before the start, the skis are locked in the control tent after successfully passing the fluorine test and may only be strapped on for the competition. If weather conditions change in the meantime and require a different wax, the athlete is out of luck. Cross-country skiing experts explain that the use of fluorowax can save up to five percent of time, especially in complicated snow conditions (warm and humid). In this sport, as well as in biathlon and Nordic combined, these are worlds apart. Over ten kilometers you can easily gain a lead of more than a minute.
It seems clear that the ban will not make the ski world fairer. In the biathlon preparation races, the already strong Norwegians were so superior that they were almost embarrassed. Four-time world champion Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold said: »It’s not necessarily that we Norwegians are better than others, but the material has a lot to say. It’s incredibly difficult to run on fluorine-free wax and be as fast as those who have better skis. That’s simply unfair.” Superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö even spoke provocatively about a “penis extension” for the Norge athletes.
Have the Norwegians already found the perfect wax formula without fluorine? Have you successfully tested limits or simply a much larger number of fast skis for all possible weather conditions? Nobody knows for sure. What is certain, however, is that the richest nation, at least in Nordic skiing and biathlon, has purchased an innovative wax truck worth 700,000 euros. “The more money a team has, the better its chances are after this rule change – I’m convinced of that,” says Germany’s cross-country skiing coach Schlickenrieder: “On the other hand, with more technicians you can test three times as much as the smaller nations – that’s a huge advantage . On the other hand, there are greater resources to search for substitutes for fluorine wax. The little ones will suffer.”
The differences between rich and poor in top winter sports could become even greater. It remains to be seen whether at least nature is a winner from the fluorowax ban. It is at least questionable: the list of fluorine substitutes for the fastest possible skis ultimately ranges from silicones to chromium and boron to heavy metals.
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