WINTER SPORTS WORLD: Uncharted Olympic course lies ahead for alpine skiers and new FIS leadership

The National Hockey League (NHL) will not be sending its players to Beijing due to escalating COVID-19 concerns, while four of the world’s top ski racers have also tested positive for the coronavirus.

The NHL postponed 50 games due to COVID-19 and has halted the regular season through Christmas, in addition to previously scrapping all games involving cross-border travel between Canada and the United States. An official announcement about Tuesday’s Olympic decision is expected to come shortly.

Hockey is certainly not the only sport with COVID-19 issues, as Omicron is quickly becoming the dominant variant of the coronavirus.

U.S. ski racing star Mikaela Shiffrin won her 72nd career World Cup race on Tuesday in Courchevel, France, in a coronavirus-affected competition. Shiffrin dominated the giant slalom race, but three of her chief rivals were not able to make it to the start, all having recently tested positive for coronavirus.

Swiss reigning world champion Lara Gut-Behrami, Austrian World Cup slalom champion Katharina Liensberger, and New Zealand’s rising star Alice Robinson were all forced out of the race and will miss at least a second in the French Alps on Wednesday. On the men’s side, Austrian tech skier Christian Hirschbühl has also tested positive and will sit out a night slalom in Italy on Wednesday.

Still, with 44 days until the Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and organizers are still forging forward, for the moment.

The world’s best ski racers will need to quickly adapt and adjust to a Winter Games unlike any previous. Everything has suddenly become a great unknown, a complicated Chinese puzzle or mystery of sorts.

These athletes have never set foot, or skis, on the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center, about 90 kilometers northwest of Beijing. There will be unfamiliar and unknown weather and snow conditions in a country that has never hosted a World Cup alpine event. Skiers will have to adhere to an avalanche of health protocols and countermeasures revealed in two playbooks released by the IOC and Beijing organizers. There will be plenty of new terrain to discover – both on and off the mountain.

World Cup alpine test events for both men and women had to be canceled in February 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions to China. However, numerous Chinese national and FIS races have been contested on Xiaohaituo Mountain, with its elevation of 2,198 meters. The competition venue – which will rely on an intricate snowmaking and water diverter system – has seven slopes and an Olympic racing piste, with a maximum steepness of 69 percent.

It has been a bit sunnier for ski and snowboard cross athletes – a joint World Cup event was contested over four days in late November, with skiers and riders testing the new Olympic course at the Secret Garden venue in Hebei Province, north of Yanqing. The skiers and boarders were generally satisfied with the course and event organization.

Unfortunately, the alpine skiers have not shared the same luxury. As a result, one might surmise there could be a variety of issues and unforeseen difficulties with complex preparation of course and race knowhow considering China’s severe lack of international ski event experience.

Despite the great uncertainly, new FIS president Johan Eliasch remains calm, cool and collected, in a one-on-one interview with Around the Rings at this past weekend’s World Cup downhill race in Val Gardena, Italy.

Eliasch remains calculated, careful and concise with his answers, without providing much depth or details. However, the FIS chief stresses he is confident and optimistic, despite the storm clouds moving above.

Here is the full interview..

Around the Rings: You weren’t able to travel to Beijing as you had planned? Can you provide an update on the courses and ongoing preparations?

Johan Eliasch: No, I didn’t. Obviously, we keep close tabs on what is going on. Preparations are well underway. I think they’ll be ready and we’ll have a great Winter Games. I look forward to going over there.

ATR: Do the diplomatic boycotts affect anything that FIS does, how you proceed, how you interact?

Johan: Well, I won’t see Boris over there, I guess that’s all. But beyond that, no.

ATR: Your opinion and thoughts about the diplomatic boycott though? It’s inevitable that sports and politics cross paths and there are lines divided.

Johan: As I said, I think the diplomatic boycott will have very little impact on the Games and the outcomes.

ATR: COVID concerns are affecting athletes and everyone else. Skiers have tested positive and also looking at the NHL situation right now, it’s not a promising situation.

Johan: I’m an optimist and hopefully everything will be contained.

ATR: And what specifically is currently going on with the alpine racing slopes in Yanqing?

Johan: There are good preparations and we’re making good progress. I think we’ll have great Games.

ATR: What are your concerns and what needs to be focused on right now, not only regarding the slopes, but to make sure all the athletes are happy?

Johan: It’s a lot of details and a lot of planning that goes into this – we’re working very hard to make sure that all stakeholders are really well taken care of. That’s athletes, serviceman and everybody involved.

ATR: Do you have any concerns?

Johan: I hope we get everything together, everybody will be happy and we’ll have a great Games. We need that with all the hardship that everybody has suffered because of COVID-19.

ATR: In Sochi and PyeongChang, things went well, but the spirit, energy and atmosphere was lacking with Olympic ski races contested in non-Alpine skiing countries. That’s the case once again in China. Sure, it’s a huge market and there are recreational skiing opportunities, and of course now with COVID-19, but it seems that the atmosphere won’t be too special – are you concerned?

Johan: I think the television production – certainly what you see on the screen will be entertaining and good for the sport. This is something that I would describe as a very unique opportunity to grow our sport recreationally, especially, with the Chinese government target of adding 300 million participants. That’s huge. If we can achieve that or get close to it, that’s fantastic for our sport.

ATR: How tough is this new Chinese downhill course and what can we expect from it?

Johan: I hear it’s no pushover. I look forward to getting there and check it out.

ATR: Despite our current situation, are you aware if media will be allowed on the course during inspection, as is standard procedure, to have a look?

Johan: I don’t think the protocols will be any different in that regard – I’m not 100% sure about the details yet, but I think it will be business as usual.

ATR: When will you and FIS secretary general Michel Vion travel to Beijing – what is the timeframe and what will be your first order of business?

Johan: We’ll head over the end of January and as you know there is pretty much a set schedule with IOC related meetings. Then it’s checking out that everything is lined up and ready to go.

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