Kasper Sounds Off on Sochi; Gymnastics Re-Elects Grandi; ISAF to Revisit Rio Decisions?

(ATR) The International Ski Federation hosted its annual Forum Alpinum in Soelden, Austria on Friday, one day prior to the start of the 2012-13 alpine season.

FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper was interviewed on stage in front of an international contingent of journalists.

Kasper was asked about continuing preparations in Sochi, where 49 of the 98 gold medals awarded at the 2014 Winter Olympics will fall under the auspices of the FIS.

"I’m 100 percent convinced that at the end of the 2014 events everything will be fine," he said. "Of course, with 45,000 workers working around the clock in that little valley, it seems chaotic now."

However, Kasper expressed displeasure with the amount of spectators that will be accommodated at the Sochi mountain cluster venues, a number that he says keeps diminishing.

"Where I’m really disappointed and I have attacked the Organizing Committee and the IOC before January is the number of spectators," said the Swiss.

"We got a lot of promises when Sochi was a candidate city, but they have cut the number of spectators in the mountain valleys down 50 percent approximately.

"And then two weeks ago we got a big surprise when we were told by Sochi that we have to reduce the number of spectators again for whatever reason, safety or finances."

Kasper cited the decreased totals.

"In alpine skiing, we have 7,500 spectators, but that includes everybody at the venue including journalists and the Olympic family," he said. "In total, we will have approximately 11,000 accredited journalists, and what if many of them want to go to alpine?

"That means the number of spectators will be very low – it depends on how many tickets will go on sale, but probably not too many.

"At freestyle skiing, it's even worse. We are down to 4,000 and at ski jumping 7,500 – we know that we could easily bring 7,000 spectators from Scandinavia alone," he said.

"We have to be careful that skiing or the outdoor sports are not treated as a secondary effort," emphasized Kasper.

"We have to fight, because I’m a firm believer that winter sports are outdoor sports and lots of people enjoy the sun, mountains, forest in cross country skiing and of course a lot of snow."

The weather forecast does not look promising for Saturday’s season opening ladies giant slalom, where two-time Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn will begin pursuit of a fifth overall title. A men’s GS is scheduled for Sunday.

Gymnastics Re-Elects Grandi

Bruno Grandi will head the International Gymnastics Federation for another four years.

The incumbent from Italy was re-elected Friday at the 79th FIG General Assembly in Cancun, Mexico.

Grandi, president of FIG since 1996, grabbed 68 of the 104 votes, easily defeating challengers Vassily Titov of Russia, who tallied 24 votes, and Adrian Stoica of Romania, who tallied 14.

"We must bring our efforts together in order that gymnastics confirms its reputation and popularity within the public and within the Olympic Movement and finds the resources to further develop the huge potential it holds through its disciplines," Grandi, also an IOC member, told the other two candidates after the ballot.

Elections for vice president and the FIG Council come later Friday.

ISAF to Revisit Rio Event Decisions?

Sailing’s controversial equipment choices for the Rio Olympics will be up for discussion at the 2012 ISAF Annual Conference beginning next week in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.

Members of the ISAF Council voted at their mid-year meeting to add kiteboarding to the Games at the expense of windsurfing. ISAF also selected the 49er FX for women’s skiff in Rio and the Nacra 17 for two-person mixed multihull, dashing tornado’s attempt at an Olympic comeback after getting nixed from London 2012.

"For the 2012 Annual Conference, 23 submissions have been received by ISAF to re-open the discussion about the events and equipment for 2016 and these will be discussed by the expert committees before recommendations are made to Council on Nov. 9," ISAF announced Friday.

According to ISAF regulations, the Council can only make changes if at least 75 percent of votes cast are in favor. "If this 75 percent is not reached, then the Events and Equipment confirmed by the ISAF Council in May 2012 will stand."

Also in Ireland, three candidates will stand for president and 14 for vice president. Carlo Croce of Italy, David Kellett of Australia and Eric Tulla of Puerto Rico are the nominees to succeed IOC member Goran Petersson of Sweden, president of ISAF since 2004.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.

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