Ski Racers Look Ahead to PyeongChang Event

(ATR) The 50th Anniversary FIS Alpine World Cup season launches in Soelden, Austria this weekend, while some female racers are already looking down the road to skiing the 2018 Olympic downhill course later this winter.

Last season, the world’s top male ski racers made their first descents on the Jeongseon downhill course at the inaugural Olympic test event for PyeongChang 2018 organizers. The ladies will have their turn on the future Olympic track, racing a downhill and super-G on March 4-5, as did the men.

Former overall World Cup champion Anna Veith of Austria, who will not start in Soelden, said she is excited to make her first trip to PyeongChang.

"I’m looking forward to being there because the first time is always special and to get all the feelings for the slope and for everything there is very important to have a good feeling for the Olympics," Veith told Around the Rings.

"What I’ve heard is that the skiing in Asia – Korea and Japan is out of this world," said Sochi 2014 slalom gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin. "It’s far though – it’s like going to Europe twice for me," said the 21-year-old U.S. skier.

Canadian racer Dustin Cook said he looks forward to competing at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, but not in Beijing 2022.

"I think Korea is an okay choice – they have snow and have proven they can have successful ski races, but in Beijing there is literally no snow and that’s a little bit crazy," Cook said. "It is what it is and we just have to make the best of it and hope it doesn’t get too screwed up."

Cook missed the men’s test event on the Jeongseon downhill and super-G course last season due to injury.

"It looks like an awesome hill and the snow looked awesome – it’s a Colorado guy who is making the snow prep and everyone had awesome reviews about it," said the 2015 World super-G champion about last February’s test event. "I’m really psyched to get on it because it looks like a very cool place to visit."

Norwegian skier Ragnhild Mowinckel is also enthused to get a first glimpse at the PyeongChang downhill course this season.

"I’ve never skied in Asia before so that’s going to be a huge experience," Mowinckel told ATR. "It’s going to be good to have a test and fun to see what they can bring to the table for us."

"I’m excited to go to Korea and heard the course is good – the guys who went there said you are going to love it, it’s fast, fun and there’s a lot of terrain," U.S. four-time Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso told ATR.

Mancuso, 32, who has been training in Soelden but will not compete Saturday as she continues her comeback from hip surgery, addressed back-to-back Winter Games headed to Asia.

"The future of our sport is just moving to exotic places, it’s the future of all sports, they’re just looking for the (new) market," she said.

50th Anniversary World Cup

Founded by French ski journalist Serge Lang, along with U.S. Ski Team alpine director coach Bob Beattie and French ski coach Honoré Bonnet, the FIS Alpine World Cup began in 1967.

The 50th Anniversary season, which opens with the traditional men’s and women's giant slaloms on Soelden’s Rettenbach Glacier this Saturday and Sunday, concludes with World Cup finals in Aspen, Colorado, March 15-19, 2017.

The Soelden races will be highlighted by the presence of Austrian Heinrich Messner, winner of the first World Cup race in Berchtesgaden, Germany, on January 5, 1967.

Since its inception in 1967, some 3,400 World Cup races have been contested across 25 countries.

Last season’s opening giant slalom races were won by American veteran Ted Ligety and Italian Federico Brignone. Ligety aims to make it five victories in six years on Sunday.

Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher, 27, is seeking an unprecedented sixth consecutive World Cup title in 2016-17, while Swiss Lara Gut, 25, is aiming for a second straight.

Former World Cup overall champions Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal and Austria’s Veith (formerly Fenninger) have all declared that they will sit the opener out, each still attempting to return to form following injuries last season.

FIS Forum Alpinum on Friday

FIS officials, in cooperation with the International Association of Ski Journalists (AIJS) and Soelden organizing committee, will hold the annual Alpine Forum on Friday afternoon.

The traditional meeting – which is open to members of the media, national ski associations, and all World Cup organizers – will include reports by FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper, secretary general Sarah Lewis, in addition to Alpine race directors Markus Waldner and Atle Skaardal.

St. Moritz 2017 will also provide an update on February’s FIS World Championship, returning to the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympic town for the first time since 2003.

Last season’s World Cup champs Hirscher and Gut will also make appearances, sitting down for interviews with Eurosport’s Nick Fellows at the Forum.

Written by Brian Pinelliin Soelden, Austria

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