Austrians and Germans complain over strict Winter Games quotas

German and Austrian officials have lamented a strict quota system which means several top winter sports athletes will be absent from next month's Olympics in Milan/Cortina.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) will nominate its team in Munich on Tuesday. But ski jumper Karl Geiger is set to miss out alongside luge world champions Paul Gubitz and Hannes Orlamünder and European champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal.

A desire from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and ski body the FIS to allow as many nations as possible to compete in the February 6-22 Games, without increasing the number of athletes, has led to a reduction in quotas for winter sports powerhouses.

"The quota calculation has not been right for years. The fact that nations that can field only one World Cup-level athlete receive three start places, for example, cannot be in the interests of elite sport," German Ski Association sporting director Wolfgang Maier said.

"But it is actually pointless to keep talking about this in public, since the decision-makers are at the FIS and the IOC."

According to the FIS, as of Saturday, tropical Brazil may send three alpine skiers to the Games thanks to the performances of Norway-born Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, whose mother is Brazilian.

Austria men's ski coach Marko Pfeifer told APA: "In a coaches' meeting this topic was addressed, and some literally said that this allocation is huge bullshit."

In the men's Nordic combined, which includes ski jumping and cross-country skiing, only three athletes from Germany's success-laden team are eligible to take part at the Olympics.

"It is very, very unfortunate that our quotas have been cut like this. It is very sad that we now have only three people there," said German Olympic champion Vinzenz Geiger.

There is no women's event in Italy - bad news for German World Cup champion Nathalie Armbruster - and the men's could be axed in 2030.