During the women's 15-kilometre skiathlon four Norwegian skiers used black mourning binds in honor of teammate Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen's brother who had died unexpectedly on the opening day of the Olympics. IOC sent a reminder to the Norwegian Olympic Committee (NOC) that using mourning binds was not allowed during the games. IOC's letter caused protests in Norway and Sweden. NOC general secretary Inge Andersen met with IOC president Thomas Bach to discuss the matter on 10 February 2014. Norway's IOC member Gerhard Heiberg indicated that IOC would reconsider the ban against mourning binds.