Swiss ski boss explains the background of the new discipline

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A number of innovations await ski fans this winter. The largest concerns a new discipline. A station wagon of the team is planned. The FIS council must give its approval on May 24. Walter Reusser, Alpine Director of Swiss Ski, is convinced it is just a formality. “We assume that this will be waved through,” he tells Blick.

Reusser is impressed with the team suit. “The idea comes from the athletes who made the rules and it corresponds to what they imagine. So I think it’s a good thing.” A team consists of two athletes, one doing a slalom run, the other a downhill run or a super-G. The times are added up, the fastest team wins.

Juniors tested the format

The FIS had its first experience with the format during the last Junior World Championships. “To be honest, you have to say you can’t really compare. Because at that time there were two races in one: Super-G and slalom. » The feedback from the young athletes was positive.

“Janine Mächler, for example, said she was almost more nervous than usual. Because she also drove for her colleague Stefanie Grob. But it was a lot of fun,” says Reusser. Together they won gold. Compared to Blick, Grob was also very happy with this format at the time .

Where do the women go?

While the combined men’s team will take place in Kitzbühel, the ladies are still looking for a location. “There are two or three candidates and it’s all about the final details. It has to be a place where the technical and speed specialists are present at the same time. It’s important that it fits into the schedule for the slalom athletes because – unlike in Kitzbühel – no organizer is currently holding downhill and slalom.”

Reusser only has positive words for the rest of the provisional calendar. “We think it’s better than last year,” he says. It’s more compact. This is because, as before Corona, Sölden (Austria) takes place on the last weekend of October and the races in Zermatt, which were canceled last winter due to a lack of snow, now take place at the end of November instead of at the beginning.

Source : Blick