World Championship Sites at Stake at FIS Congress

(ATR) Awarding multiple world championship sites in various disciplines is on the agenda at this week’s 49th International Ski Congress (FIS) Congress – headquartered at the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos – in Barcelona from June 1-6.

Nearly 1,100 participants from 77 nations are attending the bi-annual congress.

Seven candidates made presentations to FIS council members on Tuesday with elections to determine the future world championship host cities on Thursday.

Cortina d’Ampezzo Italy and Åre, Sweden are the two candidates vying to host the 2019 Alpine Ski World Championship.

While Cortina is an annual stop on the ladies world cup tour since 1993, it has not hosted a world championship or Olympics since 1956 when the Games were contested in the picturesque Italian Dolomites village.

"It means having beautiful scenery and amazing slopes in a place where skiing has a lot of tradition and is a brand that is known," said Martin Schnitzer, director of the Cortina 2019 bid committee.

In support of the bid, attending Cortina’s presentation to the FIS were Italian Prime Minister of Sport Graziano Delrio, Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago, and alpine ski legend Alberto Tomba.

"We have the full support of the Italian government on all political levels," Schnitzer said.

Should Cortina win the bid, the committee will name its slalom slope after Austrian Toni Sailer, who won gold medals at all three alpine events in 1956.

"We named it after him because he is a great sportsman and forever linked to Cortina," Schnitzer said.

Are, Sweden, host of the 2007 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, has been a regular World Cup stop dating to 1969 and has also hosted the tour finals six times.

"We have a really good concept and a very long skiing tradition," said Nicholas Sjogren-Borg, director of the Are 2019 bid committee. "As in 2007, we under-promised and over-delivered."

The Are 2019 bid slogan is "Good Can Be Great."

"With a better arena, better lifts, everything better for the athletes, sponsors and media, we will take this to the next level," Sjogren-Borg said.

Sjogren-Borg spoke of Åre and its roots as the birthplace of Scandinavian alpine skiing: "You can say that when they were building pyramids in Egypt, we were skiing in Åre"

Following elections in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon, the winning bid will be announced at a cocktail party later that evening.

Four Candidates for Nordic Worlds 2019

Also on the agenda for the FIS Council on Thursday will be electing the host city for the 2019 World Nordic Ski Championships.

Candidate cities include Planica, Slovenia; Oberstdorf, Germany; Seefeld, Austria; and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Planica has a long history hosting ski jumping events and a new Nordic center is currently being finalized.

Seefeld has been home to Nordic events at both the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics in addition to holding the inaugural Youth Olympic Winter Games in 2012.

In1987, Oberstdorf established its reputation as an important ski jumping venue and also hosted the 2005 FIS Nordic world championships.

Almaty, a candidate for the 2022 Olympics, hosted the 2011 Asian Games and will also stage Winter Universiade in 2017.

Oberstdorf appears to be the frontrunner to win the bid with Almaty considered a longshot.

New Snowboard Events Proposed for PyeongChang 2018

Attempting to ride the success of new freestyle skiing and snowboarding events in Sochi, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association is asking FIS to propose the addition of big air snowboarding and team snowboardcross as new Olympic events to the IOC.

"Hopefully, it provides athletes with new medal chances and for the IOC to build upon what they’re asking for - more youthful and appealing events," said USSA snowboarding and freeskiing director Jeremy Forster. "We’re excited about the

chance."

The initiative, which will officially be presented to the FIS Congress on Friday by USSA executive vice-president Luke Bodensteiner, is also backed by delegates from Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.

"We feel like there is good international support and, hopefully, there will be the support for it from FIS," Forster said.

No additional athletes or venue requirements would be necessary. However, if big air was approved, a jumping ramp could be constructed with the event potentially being contested in the stadium which hosts opening and closing ceremonies.

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Forster believes the new events could be contested as soon as in PyeongChang 2018.

"We just want to build on the excitement and the success of the new events in Sochi," Forster said. "We hope they’ll (FIS) agree to this (on Friday) and then FIS and the IOC will do the work they need together to make this happen for 2018."

Park City to Host 2019 Freestyle & Snowboard Worlds

As an unopposed candidate, Park City, Utah, will be officially announced on Thursday as the host of the 2019 Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships.

"We’re running unopposed, but we want to put our best foot forward with FIS," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association events director Calum Clark.

At the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Deer Valley contested the freestyle skiing events, while neighboring Park City Mountain Resort was home to snowboarding.

In 2019, Park City’s third ski resort – The Canyons – will stage the ski and snowboardcross events.

"For folks like Deer Valley, they’ve been around this show for a long time and for others like the Canyons, it’s really their first foray into international FIS events, but I think we’ve been received well," Clark said.

"They’re all talking that one day they can bring the Olympics back, and this is all part of the legacy."

Alpine Skiing Returns to Sochi Venue

The 2016 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championship will be held in Sochi. On Monday, the FIS Council made the announcement to award the international championship event to the 2014 Olympic host city.

It will be the first major international event contested on the slopes of the Rosa Khutor venue – which was home to all ten alpine events in February – following the Sochi Games.

Written by Brian Pinelli in Barcelona

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