Olympic Coach Apologizes After Being Sent Home Over Alcohol-Related Issue Violating Team Rules

Igor Medved, who is the head coach of Finland's ski jumping team, was sent home from the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics due to an alcohol-related issue, per the Associated Press.

"I made a mistake and I am very sorry," Medved said in a statement. "I want to apologize to the entire Finnish team, the athletes and also the fans."

Janne Hanninen, who is the head of the Finnish team, also released a statement and said, "Medved traveled home today. The matter concerns issues related to alcohol use. We take violations of the team's rules very seriously and reacted to the situation quickly."

As of Thursday, there have been three medal events in the ski jumping competition at the 2026 Games with the men's normal hill individual, women's normal hill individual and mixed team. Finland did not medal in any of the three events.

The next medal event is Saturday in the men's large hill.