A strange problem at the Olympics – level 1
10-02-2026 15:00
The Winter Olympics in Italy have a strange problem. Some ski jumpers may change their bodies to jump farther.
Reports say that some athletes inject substances into their penises. They do this to make them bigger for a short time. They think that this helps them fly better in the air. In ski jumping, body shape is very important. Even small changes can help an athlete go farther.
This sport already has cheating before, like changing suits. Now, officials worry because injections are hard to see. They want fair sport for everyone at the Olympics.
Difficult words: inject (to put a liquid into the body with a thin metal instrument), shape (the form or way something looks), cheat (to do something unfair).
You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.
What makes the reported injections into ski jumpers’ penises a challenging form of cheating for officials to detect?
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