Winter Olympics coach sent home for ‘very serious’ rule break | Other | Sport

Finland’s ski jumping head coach has been sent home from the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy for violating team rules over alcohol consumption. Igor Medved had been overseeing Finland’s ski jumping programme in Milano-Cortina, and had guided the team to a sixth-place finish in Tuesday’s mixed team event.

His participation at the Olympics has been cut short though, as a press release from the Finnish federation revealed Medved had been sent home. It read: “Medved has travelled home today. It is about issues related to alcohol consumption. We take the violation of the team’s rules seriously and react quickly.”

It was also confirmed that Medved remains under contract with the Finnish Ski Association, and a final decision on his future will be made following the conclusion of the Olympics. Medved was quick to come out and apologise for his actions, labelling the move as a “mistake”.

The Slovenian said in a statement: “I made a mistake and I’m very sorry. I want to apologise to the entire Finnish team, the athletes and also the fans. I wish the team peace to focus on the Games and continue the good work. I will not comment further on the matter.”

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Commenting on the decision, Vladyslav said: “Yesterday was amazing training. I could be among the medallists in this event, but suddenly, because of some interpretation of the rules which I do not agree with, I am not able to compete. I was at many funerals when I was in Ukraine and it’s a truly terrible tragedy that young people at such a young age were killed for nothing. Because of their sacrifice, we’re able to be here today, and I want to honour them, and I want to honour their families.”

President of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, responded: “No one – no one, especially me – is disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s a message of memory. But this is literally about the rules and the regulations. And sadly, that just means no messaging is allowed. For me, I was not speaking to him in that room as a president. I’m speaking to him as an athlete. I really wanted to see him race today.”