FIS President on the World Cup calendar: “We are at the limit”

“The FIS is not there to prevent the races, but to organize them,” said Gian Franco Kasper before the start of the World Cup at the weekend in Sölden. However, the Swiss IOC member admitted: “There is no question, we are at the limit.” It is “difficult” for the athletes.

There are a total of 87 Alpine competitions on the calendar this season: 45 for men, 41 for women, plus one team competition. That is two more than last winter, when 74 competitions were held in the World Cup, plus eleven at the World Cup in Are, Sweden. There will be no World Cup or Olympic Games this winter. Next February, the men will compete in the first World Cup races in China on the downhill course for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Skiers with the greatest strain “It seems like there are more and more races every year,” said dominator Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) in Sölden. Previously, among others, Austria's "Herminator" Hermann Maier, once a successful double Olympic champion in three disciplines in 1998 and a multiple overall World Cup winner, complained about the "inflationary" development. The former Austrian ski racer and current TV expert Hans Knauss said: “It’s crazy. It’s too much, even for the audience.”

Compared to other winter sports, the Alpine sports have the greatest strain. The ski jumpers' calendar includes a total of 59 competitions (men: 30 individual/6 team, women 21/2). The biathletes are supposed to compete in 68 competitions (men 30/women 30/mixed 8), including the twelve World Cup races that count as part of the World Cup. The cross-country skiers each compete in 35 individual races. The ski crossers, who only have 14 races ahead of them, have a comparatively relaxed life.

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FIS President on the World Cup calendar: “We are at the limit”

The President of the International Ski Federation FIS has partially rejected criticism of the high number of alpine competitions.

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