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There is good and bad news for the organizers of the start of the Alpine World Cup in Sölden (Austria). Positive: Due to the temperature drop last weekend, the giant slalom slope on the Kettenbach Glacier was optimally prepared and the races for the following weekend are virtually guaranteed. The problem: The best female ski racers in the world apparently don’t want to compete in a World Cup race on the last weekend of October.
Lara Gut-Behrami (32) questioned the race in Sölden in an interview with Blick last week: “If the people in the finish area are walking around in T-shirts and those sitting in front of the TV are in swimming trunks, that doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t make them want to go skiing themselves.”
American ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin (27, five overall World Cup victories) has long doubted the gigantic opening: “I can get into the mental state to race at any time, even in warm temperatures. But does that really make sense? To what extent should we adapt our environment to a schedule we want? Or should we adjust our schedules to suit the environment?”
Girardelli shakes his head
The Luxembourgish-Austrian Marc Girardelli (60), who, like Shiffrin, has won the large crystal ball five times, reacts irritated when confronted with such statements: ‘Idols like Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami must finally stop sawing the branch , which they sit on themselves!” The former top all-rounder with 46 individual World Cup victories is specific: “I can assure Mikaela Shiffrin that snow in Sölden is produced using very environmentally friendly technology. And Lara Gut should not forget that the Australian Open tennis also attracts great interest in Europe, even though this tournament is held in the middle of winter. “There is no reason why TV viewers wouldn’t want to watch ski broadcasts when temperatures are higher.”
Germany’s former slalom champion Frank Wörndl (64, world champion in 1987) thinks the same as Girardelli and comes up with a special comparison: “I was just in the supermarket, where Christmas stollens are offered at the checkout two months before Christmas. For the same reason, the The ski industry needs the World Cup to start in the late autumn. The races should get people looking forward to the winter!”
And because elite athletes collect a significant portion of their salaries from their outfitters, Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami depend on a thriving ski industry. But do World Cup races in October actually have such a big impact on sales of winter sports equipment? Someone who can assess this very well is Franz Julen (65), boss of the new World Cup descent on the Matterhorn. The Zermatt native launched superstars Pirmin Zubriggen and Vreni Schneider in the 1980s and was then CEO of Völkl Ski and Intersport International. “The early start of the World Cup in Sölden is of great importance for the winter sports industry!” says the Zermatt resident. “Every year we have seen that sales of skis, ski suits and gloves only really picked up the day after the race in Sölden.”
Yet Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami are certainly not the only members of the Alpine Circus who advocate that the World Cup season only start at the end of November and therefore be extended until the beginning of April. Julen doesn’t think this idea will work. «We talked in the OK about holding World Cup races in the spring. But none of our sponsors were interested in a Matterhorn descent in April. At this time of year, these companies logically want to invest their money in summer sports. At Intersport we have always invested a lot of money in ski sponsorship, but only until the end of February because after that the viewing figures drop sharply.
Environmental friendliness questioned
Frank Wörndl is also convinced that World Cup races in the spring are no more environmentally friendly than the season opener in the Tyrolean autumn: “In the past, countless tons of salt had to be spread in the snow to save the slopes, especially at the World Championships Cup Final in March. And most scientists would agree that salt can cause chemical burns to plants.”
In the same breath, Wörndl makes it clear why the current generation of ski racers talk too much about sustainability in their sport: “When I think about how much damage all the tanks currently used in wars do to the environment, that is what happens.” what happens while skiing is a trivial matter.” The last word in this discussion has not yet been spoken.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
