The International Federation of Skiing (FIS) announced that the North American races of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup have been canceled for the upcoming ski season. After discussions among FIS, the National Ski Associations and the Local Organising Committees in Canada and the USA together with their stakeholders, all parties have together decided that the Alpine World Cup tours will not travel to North America in late November for their traditional two-weeks of competitions.
For the Women, this schedule shift impacts the Killington (USA) Giant Slalom and Slalom events on 28th-29th November and the speed week in Lake Louise (CAN) on 1st-6th December.
For the men, this impacts the speed weekend in Lake Louise, 25th-29th November and both speed and tech events at Vail/Beaver Creek (USA), 1st-6th December.
Canceled Races: Lake Louise (CAN) November 28th Downhill / Men December 29th Super-G / Men Killington (USA) November 28th Giant Slalom / Ladies November 29th Slalom / Ladies Lake Louise (CAN) December 4th Downhill / Ladies December 5th Downhill / Ladies December 6th Super G / Ladies Beaver Creek (USA) December 4th Super G / Men December 5th Downhill / Men December 6th Giant Slalom / Men The objective of FIS is to carry out a full World Cup competition programme, protecting the health and welfare of all participants to the best extent possible. The temporary re-alignment of the FIS Alpine World Cup Calendar caters to this goal by focusing on athlete safety, reducing travel, and providing competitors with a detailed competition calendar. "The desire and motivation to hold these races as scheduled for all parties were strong", said Markus Waldner, FIS men’s Chief Race Director. "The training set-up and races in USA and Canada are very much appreciated by the teams. But ultimately, the unique logistics and situation for the early season alpine races have current travel restrictions and corresponding quarantine regulations in both directions, which led to this joint decision". "The Organisers and National Ski Associations provided us with excellent health and safety plans to stage the events and were fully prepared to host the races", echoed Peter Gerdol, FIS women’s Chief Race Director. "But ultimately, the logistics involved with the travel from Europe and between the two countries, and the quarantines involved, made it too unpredictable to ensure that athletes could participate in the competitions". The adapted calendars, to be approved in late September, involve the rescheduling of the Alpine North American competitions at existing locations later in the season. These preliminarily include events in December, with Val d’Isere (FRA) taking on an additional weekend for the Men. The planned Giant Slalom races will be moved up one weekend to 5th-6th December making room for an added Downhill and Super-G on 12th-13th December to replace one of the North American weekends. The Women’s tour will add a Downhill to its traditional weekend in St. Moritz (SUI) on 5th-6th December. The Swiss resort has picked up a Downhill as part of its race weekend to compensate for the Lake Louise race. Additionally, Courchevel (FRA) will host a two-race technical weekend in December. The revised calendars with the latest adaptations will be approved following the FIS Technical Meetings from 30th September to 2nd October for ratification by the FIS Council on 3rd October and will be published on the FIS website at that time. Although the North American alpine skiing competitions will be missed this season, all parties look forward to the FIS Alpine World Cup’s return to the USA and Canada for the 2021-22 season.
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