Belgian bobsleigh team’s Olympic dream at risk due to registration blunder
The Belgian women’s bobsleigh team travelled to Lillehammer for the European Cup this weekend. There, they discovered that due to an administrative mistake, they were not on the start list. The mistake is not only a financial blow for the team, it also makes qualifying for next year's Winter Olympics more difficult.
The Belgian Bullets, Belgium's women’s bobsleigh team, had informed the Belgian Federation for Bobsleigh and Skeleton (BFBS) last summer that they wanted to participate in the European Cup in Lillehammer. But on 7 November, they learned that the BFBS had mistakenly entered them for the World Cup round in Igls, Austria, which takes place on the same weekend.
The team immediately alerted the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and were told that the mistake would be corrected. But when they arrived in Norway, they discovered that the BFBS had never completed the final step of the registration.
A petition launched on Thursday drew more than 2,000 signatures within a day, but on Friday the IBSF confirmed it would not permit a late entry, ruling the team out of the competition. The federation argued that adding the Belgians now would be unfair to other teams, particularly as nations are competing for Olympic qualification points.
Olympic hopes hit
The consequences for Olympic qualification are potentially severe. In a reaction to Het Nieuwsblad, pilot Kelly Van Petegem explained that "we are now the only team leaving Norway this weekend with zero points. One error by the federation has made our Olympic campaign significantly more difficult."
"We feel powerless, even though this was not our fault"
The trip is also a huge financial blow: the team is forced to fund the Olympic qualification campaign themselves, as structural support was cut following the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The team has launched a fundraising campaign seeking up to 10,000 euros to cover travel expenses and ensure they can still pursue qualification for Milan–Cortina 2026.
"We feel powerless, even though this was not our fault," Van Petegem said. "We haven’t even received an apology from the federation. This kind of mistake is unacceptable."
PHOTO © Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP
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