Markus Waldner: “Downhill must become a hardcore sport again”

SportNews: Mr. Waldner, sleep two more times, then the 2014/15 World Cup season begins and a new career phase for you as race director. What are your feelings about the opening in Sölden? Markus Waldner: The feelings are very positive and I'm happy that it's even starting. We were in Sölden on Friday to check the snow. Luckily the organizers have created snow deposits. Without it we would never have been able to run the race. And of course it wouldn't have been nice to start my debut with a rejection (smiles).

The teams will also be happy that the first race is taking place...

Of course, everyone is happy. Especially because the snow situation on the glaciers was precarious. The situation in the southern hemisphere was also not ideal. Nobody knew where to go to make a few turns. Luckily a little snow has fallen now. This also makes the landscape a little more wintry.

You can look back on very intense summer months. What tasks did you have to complete?

We have built a new team and distributed all the tasks that were previously concentrated on my predecessor Günther Hujara across several shoulders. We first had to introduce this new structure and build trust with the organizers, the teams and also the television directors. We have analyzed what the processes are like at the various races and would like to adopt well-functioning, existing structures. We certainly won't make a revolution and throw everything overboard. Calendar planning is also an important part of my work.

What news did you discuss with the teams?

We have spoken to the downhill teams because we want to take some new steps. We would like to make certain passages on the classic descents rougher again. Continue making the jumps where we have the leeway. We want to push the boundaries closer. In recent years, some things have been made more gentle - due to serious injuries to some athletes, such as Hans Grugger or Matthias Lanzinger. That's quite understandable. Nevertheless, we analyzed various things and found that there is still room for improvement.

Can you give us a specific example?

We don't want to make jumps any higher, but you can safely jump 50 meters on a Golden Eagle in Beaver Creek. In recent years it has been 30 meters. We have prepared the teams for these things and everyone is enthusiastic about our ideas. Downhill should become a hardcore sport again. If you don't want that, you can do other disciplines. But I repeat: We only want to go closer to the border and not across the border. We want to push them more. Because otherwise we will lose the attention of the audience.

So skiing needs to become more attractive again? Alpine skiing needs to attract younger spectators again. We have television viewers aged 45 and over. We have lost 17 percent of ratings in recent years. That's why we have to react and improve our product. The young people would rather watch a Red Bull film than a World Cup downhill run with the best racers in the world. That's why we have to offer them something.

Read on our portal on Friday what Markus Waldner wants to change in TV broadcasts, what differences there are between the European and World Cups and how he differs from his predecessor Günther Hujara.

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Markus Waldner: “Downhill must become a hardcore sport again”

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