Ukrainian ski team suddenly escapes from the Tour de Ski!

In a dramatic incident during the 19th edition of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, the Ukrainian cross-country skiing team suddenly disappeared. Before the decisive competition, the absence of athletes Viktoriya Olekh, Anastasiia Nikon, Sofiia Shkatula, Andriy Dotsenko and Denys Muhotinov caused a lot of guesswork. FIS race director Michael Lamplot expressed his perplexity: "They simply never showed up at the start. Sometimes teams forget to notify us. I don't know what the reason was this time," said Lamplot, as in several reports from sueddeutsche.de documented.

The FIS has now issued an explanation for the sudden disappearance. As reported, the Ukrainian team told the World Ski Federation that “financial difficulties” were the reason for their early departure. It was already intended that the athletes would leave the Tour de Ski at this time. Confusion arose because the team did not inform the association or the media about this decision, although this is not mandatory under the regulations oe24.at reported.

Misunderstandings and reactions

No one at the venue initially had any information about the team's disappearance, and the whole incident was particularly explosive in war-torn times. The Ukrainian team did not respond to media questions by midday on Friday, which made the situation even more mysterious. At the time of their withdrawal, the Ukrainian athletes were already significantly behind in the stages, which made their decision all the more surprising. While the Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and the Norwegian Astrid Öyre Slind were in the lead, the discussion about the return of the Ukrainian team and their challenges on the Tour de Ski remained current.