Why Would Injecting Your Johnson With Paraffin Improve Your Ski Jump Performance?

But this year's Winter Olympics, taking place in Milan-Cortina, have been hit with particularly bizarre accusations and rumors. Likely begun by German outlet Bild, there are suggestions that ski jumpers have been injecting their penises with paraffin or hyaluronic acid in order to gain an advantage in their sport.

So, how on Earth would injecting your penis with paraffin give you an advantage in the sport? In ski jumping, competitors ski down a specially-designed curved ramp before attempting to jump the furthest. As well as this, the skier's style is judged and given points. Having a larger penis helps neither with style, nor with gaining extra momentum in the air. Skiers are not carefully timing a penis swing right at the end of their jump to give them some extra difference. But subtle differences in their clothing can make a real impact on their jump performance and length.

One study, split across two parts, attempted to analyze how ski jump performance was affected by clothing size, or how snugly the suit fits onto the athletes. They found that "suit size greatly influenced aerodynamic performance, with drag increasing by ∼4% and lift by ∼5% for every 2 cm increase in tolerance".

Looking at numerical simulations, the team found that a 2.8-centimeter (1.1-inch) increase in tolerance in the suit corresponded with an increase of around 5.8 meters (19 feet) in jump length.

"It was indicated that the higher level athlete could benefit more from a larger suit after analyzing video of one of the ski jumpers," the team explained in the second half of their study, using in-the-field measurements. "Inertial measurement unit measurements showed how similar length and even longer jumps could be achieved with lower speeds during the glide by utilizing a larger suit."

In recent years, there have been cheating scandals involving costume alteration. In August 2025, three Norwegian competitors were suspended from the sport after it was found that their suits were restitched to increase their surface area, offering the athletes an advantage.

So what does this have to do with injecting your penis with paraffin? When athletes are measured for their suits, they have to adhere to strict requirements 

"The rules for the suit cover various aspects, including fabric material and zipper placement. For instance, the thickness of the suit may not exceed 6 mm, nor be less than 4 mm, and the material of a jumping suit must show certain air permeability," the Olympics website explains.

"Moreover, the measurements of the suit must conform to the measurement of the body in an upright position with a tolerance of at least 2 cm in addition and a maximum of 4 cm to the body at any part of the suit."

Though it hasn't been shown that anybody is doing it, there has been speculation that skiers have been giving themselves a little extra material by temporarily enhancing their penis sizes before measurement. After this, if they were doing it, they would then use the extra spare material – unoccupied by their genitals – to their advantage.

While that might get you a (very) slim upper hand over opponents with unaltered penises, there are significant potential downsides, including paraffinoma.

"Paraffinoma (also referred to as mineral oil granuloma) is a term used to describe a peculiar histopathologic pattern demonstrating the replacement of normal subcutaneous tissue by cystic spaces of various size – likened to Swiss cheese," a review of the topic explains. "These spaces appear empty when stained with hematoxylin and eosin; however, several frozen tissue stains have been used to demonstrate nonabsorbable, encysted oil."

If you want to avoid Swissing your penis, hyaluronic acid also carries significant risk.

"Poorly injected technique or incorrect dose would cause penile pain, poor cosmesis [disfigurement], deformity, infection, inflammation, sensory change, and sexual dysfunction," Professor Eric Chung, a urological surgeon, told The Guardian. "In rare instances, infection can spread to cause gangrene (tissue necrosis) and loss of the penis."

Besides all risks, including dead penis tissue and other significant problems, there isn't much of an advantage that can be gained through penis injection.

"It is possible to achieve a temporary, visual thickening of the penis by injecting paraffin or hyaluronic acid," Dr Kamran Karim, Senior Consultant at Maria-Hilf Hospital in Krefeld, Germany, explained to Bild. "However, lengthening is not possible with this method. Such an injection is not medically indicated and is associated with risks."

It isn't clear that ski jumpers have used this nefarious tactic in order to gain an advantage during the sport. Nevertheless, for anybody considering it, it isn't worth the risk.

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The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions