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American star withdraws from Winter Olympics in ugly logo dispute

The IOC demanded Team USA's Julia Marino cover a Prada sponsorship on the base of her board, a move which subsequently forced the US star to withdraw from the big air event earlier this week. Pictures: Getty Images
The IOC demanded Team USA's Julia Marino cover a Prada sponsorship on the base of her board, a move which subsequently forced the US star to withdraw from the big air event earlier this week. Pictures: Getty Images

American snowboarder Julia Marino was forced to withdraw from the big air competition earlier this week after the International Olympic Committee demanded she cover up the name of a sponsor on the base of her board.

Marino, claimed a silver medal in the slopestyle earlier in the Beijing Winter Olympics, was told by officials prior to the big air event on Monday that she would be required to cover up a Prada sponsorship on her board.

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The Olympics have strict rules around the sponsors allowed to be showcased at the event, with athletes typically not allowed to showcase their personal sponsors.

The IOC goes to great lengths to protect their sponsorship deals, going so far as to cover up logos on toilets and official vehicles that aren't part of their sponsorship arrangements.

Marino claimed officials suggested she use texta to cover up the board sponsorship, but the 24-year-old said doing so greatly impacted the characteristics of her board on the snow.

She explained what had lead to her withdrawing from the event in a series of stories on her Instagram page.

“For everyone asking, the night before the big air, the IOC told me they no longer approved my board even tho [sic] they approved it for slope," she said.

"They told me I would be disqualified if I didn’t cover the logo and obligated me to literally draw on the base of my board with a sharpie.”

The US team's frustration largely centred around the fact that Marino had been allowed to use the exact same board to win silver in the slopestyle.

She had covered up another Prada logo on her helmet in order to comply with the rules.

Marino went on to say the alteration to her board had made a significant impact.

“For those who don't know, the base of the board is important for your speed and not meant to have anything on it but wax, having marker and other things on the bottom basically defeats the purpose," Marino wrote.

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Marino said the board “felt off” and after feeling "unsteady" in practice, she bailed out of the event to avoid further injury.

“I dropped into the jump to see how the tailbone felt after taking a slam the other day in practice, and after my base [was] altered, I had no speed for the jump and wasn’t able to clear it several times," she wrote.

"Was just feeling pretty physically and mentally drained from this distraction and the slam I took.

"I was super-hyped with how I did in slope, my main event, and decided not to risk further injury even tho [sic] that didn’t appear to be the top priority of the IOC.”

Julia Marino won silver for America in the slopestyle at the Winter Olympics, before withdrawing from the big air over a dispute about a logo on the base of her board. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Julia Marino won silver for America in the slopestyle at the Winter Olympics, before withdrawing from the big air over a dispute about a logo on the base of her board. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

USOPC vice president Dean Nakamura appealed the decision to the IOC, contending that covering the logo would alter the board’s core characteristics.

“[C]overing the logo is not a feasible option,” Nakamura wrote.

“The logo is molded to the board and altering it would cause drag and interrupt the surface intended to glide … [W]e ask the IOC to reconsider its position and allow Julia Marino to use the board used during the Snowboard Slopestyle competition.”

The appeal was denied.

Marino at least went home with one medal … and a good, if painful, story for why she didn’t get a shot at a second.

With Yahoo Sport US/Jay Busbee

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