FIS News In Brief - Week 2, August 18

FIS participation in IOC Commissions

The International Olympic Committee announced the composition of the IOC Commissions for 2018, with continued progress towards gender equality. A number of well-known FIS faces are part of the IOC Commission setup.

The following FIS officials are part of the IOC Commissions:

Athletes‘ Commission, Women in Sport: Kikkan Randall (USA)
Olympic Channel, Coordination Beijing 2022: Gian Franco Kasper
Communication: Roman Kumpost (CZE)
Coordination Lausanne 2020, Coordination Beijing 2022,
Olympic Programme: Sarah Lewis
Coordination Beijing 2022: José Luis Marco (ARG)
Marketing: Alfons Hörmann (GER)
Olympic Solidarity: Janez Kocijancic (SLO)
Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee: Aki Murasato (JPN)
Beijing 2022 Organising Committee liaison between FIS and BOCOG: Steve Dong Yang (CHN)

In general, women will now occupy 30 more commission positions than last year, reflecting the IOC’s commitment to improve gender equality throughout all levels of sport. In total, 42.7 percent of the positions across the 26 IOC commissions will now be held by women – a historic high.This represents an increase of 16.8 per cent in female participation compared to 2017 and an improvement of 98 per cent since 2013.

The IOC commissions, in addition to providing assistance to the IOC and to the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, engage in a range of activities throughout the year, contributing to building a better world through sport. Their work supports the Olympic Movement and helps progress in topics such as the development of “Sport for All”; cooperation with public and private organisations to place sport at the service of humankind; the fight against doping; the promotion of sports ethics and fair play; awareness of environmental problems; financial and educational support for developing countries; and many other areas.

Due to the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in October this year, the IOC Commissions’ meetings for 2018 will exceptionally take place from 14- 20 January 2019. For 2019, the IOC will go back to its previous schedule, with the review of the commissions’ composition in spring and Commissions’ Week to be held in November 2019.

Barwood, Hudson claim back-to-back National titles in New Zealand

The New Zealand Alpine National Championships hosted at Coronet Peak, got underway with a large international field of 59 ladies and 95 men competing in giant slalom. Adam Barwood and Piera Hudson were crowned national champions, only to repeat their triumphs only days later in slalom.

Giant slalom

The ladies were the first to race with Robinson starting in bib three and making short work of a fast and straight course set to clock a time of 52.76 seconds and secure a lead.With Piera Hudson just 0.40 seconds back in second place, the scene was set for a tight battle for the national title. Run two got underway after a course reset with Hudson finding herself more at home on the “turnier” course and laying down a good second run. Robinson was next in the start gate but a mistake on the third last gate would cause her to ski out , leaving Hudson unchallenged the national title.

In the men’s field Willis Feasey finished his first run just 0.05 seconds ahead of teammate Adam Barwood and knew he had work still to do to secure the top step of the podium. Flat light added to the challenge for the men’s second run, but NZL’s Adam Barwood was able to iron out a few mistakes and jump ahead of teammate Willis Feasey to claim the national title, finishing eleventh overall. Feasey dropped back in to 14^th overall but held on to a place on the national podium, second fastest Kiwi. Tai Juneau finished third amongst Kiwi men with a significantly stronger second run which saw him move from 40^th place to finish 26^th overall.

Slalom

Warm temperatures overnight created soft snow conditions, and Hudson was happy to be the first racer on course. “I got a lucky draw with bib one today with the soft conditions,” she said. Hudson made the most of the advantage and laid down the fastest first run in the women’s field. As the leader of the first run, Hudson started 30^th in run two and had to battle the ruts to make it to the finish line. A few mistakes on the bumpy course cost her the overall lead, putting her in sixth place, but she still claimed the national ladies’ slalom title.

In the men’s field, defending NZ champion Adam Barwood never looked in too much danger of relinquishing his title so long as he could hold on in the tricky snow conditions. After the first run, Barwood was placed fifth with Willis Feasey the closest of his teammates way back in 19^th place. A mistake on the bottom half of the course on run two would put an end to Feasey’s second run charge for the men’s national championship title while Barwood hung on, dropping back to eighth overall but managing to retain the men’s slalom title for another year.

Nordic allrounders return to competition action

In just a few days Nordic Combined will take yet another step forward: the inaugural Ladies’ Summer Grand Prix takes place in Oberwiesenthal (GER). In two Individual Gundersen events, last winter’s Continental Cup winner Stefaniya Nadymova (RUS) has to prove that she is still the one to beat.

The 2018 edition of the men’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix features four venues in three different countries, just like in 2017. This time, the journey goes from Oberwiesenthal (GER) to Villach (AUT), further to Oberstdorf (GER) and finally Planica (SLO).Austria’s Mario Seidl had a strong run last year, winning three of the six individual events. He missed the Summer Grand Prix victory only because he did not start in the finals in Planica.

For ladies and men, the Grand Prix is a welcome opportunity to check their current condition against the international competition and get a first idea as to where the athletes stand going into a full winter with the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 in Seefeld (AUT) as the highlight for the men and the first-ever FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championship medals for the ladies, which will be on the line in Lahti (FIN) inlate January.

As always in the summer, the winner’s lists of the different events are anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure: it will be great to see the Nordic allrounders return to competition mode again.