Biathlon Stars Face Major Equipment Trouble

Biathlon Stars in Trouble

Just weeks before the World Cup kickoff, some biathletes may find themselves without bindings due to a court ruling prohibiting the use of a specific product.

The recent court decision is shaking up the preparations of biathlon stars for the upcoming World Cup season. This ruling comes from Norwegian Justice in response to a lawsuit by the Norwegian company Rottefella.

Rottefella had launched a new binding system last winter after years of development, aimed at improving the power transfer from the shoe to the ski. Competitor Amer Sports had also prepared a similar product for this winter, which many biathletes planned to use in the upcoming World Cup.

Biathlon: Amer Sports Violates Patent Rights

As a result, Rottefella took Amer Sports to court and won. According to the newspaper "Verdens Gang," the court deemed Amer Sports' new binding illegal, constituting a violation of patent rights. Consequently, the Amer products cannot be sold anymore, which poses a significant issue for the athletes right before the season starts at the end of November.

Norwegian biathlete Vetle Sjastad Christiansen views the ban as a major problem. "It would be a minor semi-crisis if we are not allowed to use the bindings we have gotten used to just before the season," he said to Verdens Gang.

Following the announcement of the ruling, Rottefella's CEO Torstein Myklebostad expressed his satisfaction with the decision, noting that suing Amer Sports was unfortunately inevitable since the Finnish company had refused to engage in any dialogue.