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Switzerland's Simon Ammann soars through the air during the individual large hill ski jumping qualification - Source: Reuters
Olympic Swiss ski jumping Simon Ammann champion was cleared to continue using his modified boot bindings despite Austrian complaints that they were unfair, the International Ski Federation (FIS) said on Saturday.
Austria, who said Ammann's equipment allowed him to fly further than his rivals and was therefore illegal, were threatening to protest if the Swiss jumper used the bindings in Saturday's large hill competition.
Sepp Gratzer, responsible for FIS equipment control, said the bindings were perfectly legal.
"I saw the binding. For me it is according to the rules and I find no passage in the rules that could be against it," he said in an article posted on the FIS English-language website.
The article also quoted Jouko Tormaenen, head of the FIS ski jumping committee, as telling a Swiss television station that "the binding is no new product. I have no worries concerning the safety. It's legal".
The comments indicate the Austrians would have virtually no chance of successfully lodging a protest with the FIS.
The Swiss ski team said the Austrians were using the binding as an excuse for their underwhelming performances so far.
The Austrians have four of the world's top five jumpers but did poorly in the normal hill contest last week, when all they could manage was a bronze.
Ammann, a double gold medallist from 2002, easily won the normal hill and was one of the favourites for Sunday's large hill contest.
In a detailed dossier presented to the captains of other ski teams, the Austrians said Ammann was using a curved metal binding that allowed him to increase his aerodynamic profile and so hang in the air longer.
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