Experts alarmed by repeated broken zippers on Norway’s jump suits: “That should never happen”

Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal says Norway may have underestimated a small but crucial detail after teammate Isak Andreas Langmo was disqualified in Lillehammer for a broken sleeve zipper, and two days later Sundal himself was barred from starting in Falun due to another broken zipper. “We maybe should have checked the zippers after Isak’s snapped. It’s insanely irritating,” Sundal told NRK.

NRK’s ski jumping expert Johan Remen Evensen called the back‑to‑back failures “junior mistakes,” arguing either the zipper quality or the suit work was substandard: “It happened to me maybe once in my whole career. For it to happen in two of four events is just not good enough.” He believes the fault lies with those who sewed the suits and that the team was insufficiently prepared.

Sports director Jan Erik Aalbu counters that the team was unlucky with a delivered batch and stresses they ordered from the same source as before: “We think we received a batch that wasn’t good enough.” He rejects a blame culture, saying the staff stands together in adversity. TV 2 expert and recently retired jumper Robert Johansson supports the batch explanation, noting it can be hard to detect weak zippers until they fail—though this is still something that “shouldn’t happen.”

The equipment hiccups come in the shadow of the “jump suit scandal” at the Trondheim World Championships, where Norway admitted to illegal suit alterations. FIS later suspended all Norwegian jumpers through the end of last season, and now seeks new sanctions for Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, plus long bans for suspended staff Thomas Lobben and suit maker Adrian Livelten. Jumpers Robin Pedersen, Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal and Robert Johansson were cleared; Johansson has since retired and now works as a TV expert.

Evensen says the loss of expertise after the exits of Livelten, head coach Magnus Brevig and assistant coach Lobben is hard to replace, and that the overhaul will take time. Aalbu concedes he can’t guarantee there won’t be more disqualifications but calls these two incidents “just nonsense,” emphasizing a commitment to follow FIS rules strictly and rebuild trust and reputation.

Norway’s men have started slowly and sit sixth in the Nations Cup after four events. Over the weekend in Ruka, Friday qualifying was canceled due to wind and only one round was held on Saturday.