Georgia's Bakuriani Hosts History-Making Ski Cross World Cup Test Events Ahead Of 2023 World Championships

More than 100 elite-level international skiers descended on the Georgian ski resort of Bakuriani (26-28 February) for a crucial stage of the Ski Cross World Cup, including the first mixed team ski cross event ever to be held in World Cup competition. The competitions served as test events for the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championship 2023, which Georgia will host for the first time in the country’s history.

Following a classic ski cross competition on Saturday, Swiss duo Jonas Lenherr and Fanny Smith wrote themselves into the history books on Sunday in Bakuriani by becoming the first ever winners of a Ski Cross World Cup mixed team event.

The mixed team competition is set up in a relay format, with the male member of each team competing first in a standard four-person ski cross race. The time margin as they cross the finish line is then applied to their compatriot female skier in starting gates at the top of the course, with the first woman to cross the line in their subsequent race claiming victory for her team.

“Bringing this world-class competition to the slopes of Bakuriani, including a history-making mixed team event, is a major step forward for Georgia as an up-and-coming winter sports nation and for the country’s development as a whole,” said George Ramishvili, former president of the Georgian Ski Federation and Chairman of its main sponsor Silknet, speaking after the event. “With the freestyle World Championships coming to Georgia in 2023, we’re now firmly on the map for international tourists and elite-level athletes.”

In 2018, Georgia was chosen to host the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championship 2023. The move was hailed by FIS President Gian Franco Kasper as showing “the far reach and global appeal of the sport.” The South Caucasus nation is widely viewed as a natural winter sports destination, with around 60% of the country covered by mountains.

“Our Federation worked long and hard, together with the Ministry of Economy and our main sponsor Silknet, to get the infrastructure in place and make this event possible,” said Zurab Kostava, president of Georgian Ski Federation. “Georgia has made significant progress over the past few years to stand alongside Switzerland, Austria, Italy and other leading ski nations.”

Since being awarded host status for the 2023 World Championships, Georgia has invested heavily in infrastructure at its leading ski resorts. In October 2020, four new ski lifts were completed in Bakuriani. Alongside extensive road and water infrastructure works, two new five-star hotels will be built in the resort by 2023.

Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy, said: “Many people abroad watched Bakuriani and Georgia [on TV], which is a great step forward not only for the development of our winter sports and young athletes, but also for the recovery of Georgia's tourism potential, because the world got to know Bakuriani through this competition.

Hosting a landmark event in the international skiing calendar is expected to play a vital role in the development of Georgia’s winter sports and tourism industries. Georgia welcomed record numbers of international tourist in the year before the pandemic struck, with visitors growing from 100,000 to more than 6.5 million since the turn of the century.

The ski cross test events took place in Bakuriani on 26-28 February, in line with FIS Covid-19 Prevention Guidelines, and were be broadcast in the UK and Europe on Eurosport. On March 3-5, Bakuriani will host World Cup races in Snowboard Cross, which will also function as test events for the 2023 World Championships.