FIS News In Brief - Week 4, August 18
First steps for Planica 2023
Planica made its first big step for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2023 when the Slovenian resort welcomed FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis and FIS Event Director Stefan Huber for an initial preliminary inspection visit.
It was a whirlwind 24 hour tour to Ljubljana and Plancia to review the many facets, including organisational structures, integrating legacy from the outset as well as infrastructure that will be necessary to carry out unforgettable FIS World Championships in five years’ time.
Planica boasts a state-of-the art Nordic Centre that has already hosted many FIS World Cup competitions and is sure to treat the athletes, teams, media and spectators to a first-class experience. The Plancia 2023 team was led by Enzo Smrekar, President of the Slovenian Ski Association, Franci Petek, Managing Director of the Slovenian Ski Association together with Primoz Finzgar who handled the successful bid to host the World Championships and the three candidacies beforehand.
"The purpose of the pre-inspection is to engage in an informal setting to meet the key persons we will be working closely with in the upcoming months and years and to address initial questions" said Lewis. "From our visit, observations and discussions when the official FIS Coordination Group visits begin next spring, the members will be very impressed with both the steps and engagement of the Ski Association of Slovenia’s Organising Committee and what Planica will offer the Nordic world of skiing in 2023."
In the coming months, the Planica 2023 team will attend the FIS Technical Committee meetings including the World Championship Organiser Seminar, in addition to gaining first-hand insight at the upcoming World Championships next February in Seefeld (AUT). Naturally, they will also be busy with a full line-up of FIS World Cup competitions throughout the winter season.
Several of the FIS disciplines had competitions scheduled over the past weekend: The FIS Ski Jumping Summer Grand Prix continued in Hakuba (JPN), the Nordic Combined athletes stopped in Villach (AUT) and Oberstdorf (GER), Alpine aces were in action in Argentina and Australia, and Cross-Country marathon events took place in Sweden and Australia.
Alpine: Las Lenas (ARG) & Mt. Hotham (AUS)
Cross-Country Skiing: Alliansloppet (SWE) & Kangaroo Hoppet (AUS)
Nordic Combined: Villach (AUT) & Oberstdorf (GER)
Ski Jumping: Hakuba (JPN)
FIS Youth Cup action for Nordic Combined youngsters
85 starters from 12 nations were part of the first FIS Nordic Combined Youth Cup competition action of the summer in Oberstdorf, where the first two events of the tour took place on the past weekend. 40 girls and 45 boys started in three different categories and had one individual Gundersen competition and a sprint event including a cross-country run each.
Cindy Haasch (GER) and Arsi Tietavainen (FIN) celebrated double victories in the Youth II categories and received the trophies out of the hands of the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix stars in the joint prize giving ceremonies on each day. In the Youth II Girls category, the winners were Anna Jaekle (GER) and Ema Volavsek (SLO).
FIS Youth Cup Coordinator Uwe Mühln was happy with the development of the event: “The highlight this year in Oberstdorf was the number and quality of the participating girls in continually rising, so that we almost had gender parity this year with 40 girls and 45 boys taking part. Attendance of the Youth Cup in Oberstdorf continues to be very strong, even though we were not able to include the Youth II boys category this year for operational reasons.”
