Nordic Ski World Cup-FIS director Spitz: “Norwegians celebrate in a different style”

We see rain, snow and many spectators at this World Cup in Trondheim. How satisfied is the World Ski Association FIS so far with the World Cup?

I think you can talk about a very, very nice World Cup here. The organization committee certainly has a bit of bad luck with the weather and unfortunately not the luck like the Alpine World Cup in Saalbach. But what we see here is really a show case of the Nordic skiing. We are very grateful that we can offer this platform to the athletes together with the National Organizational Committee.

Over 210 000 tickets were sold for the Nordic Ski World Cup, the enthusiasm is incredible …

I have been with every Nordic Ski World Cup since 2003. At the World Cup in Oslo 2011 there was also a great atmosphere. But Saturday here in Trondheim with the men’s skiathlon, that was incredible and touching. Of course, every World Cup has its own character and it should also have it. But the Norwegians celebrate in a different style. A colleague said: The World Cup in Trondheim is something completely different from Oslo, because in Trondheim people are also in the rain for eight hours, while they go in in Oslo after two hours. We experience a festival of Nordic skiing here.

The Trondheim World Cup program with a record number of decisions plus para competitions looks very full …

The decision is made by the FIS-Council and our congress. But of course we see that with 25 medal competitions plus the para-skiing run at the limit. If the weather is not optimal as here, there is no longer a large scope. I think we can’t add much more in ten World Cup days. Then we lose quality.

Could there be changes in the competitions? The trend is also towards faster formats such as the sprint and lower team strengths in the team competitionsn.

The trend is because you want to promote the universality and diversity of the nations. It is of course easier for a small nation to find two people instead of four people who are fast or jump far. We want to give as many people as possible access to sport. That is very important to us. I think we are coming to the nations with our newer formats that are not so widely.

Interview

Imago/Eibner

Sandra Spitz Come from Schonach in the Black Forest and started in 2005 as a media coordinator for the cross -country skiing run at the International Ski Association FIS. Since January 2023 she has been a sports and event director at the World Association.

Should there be the Para-Skilanglauf decisions again in 2027, which celebrated their premiere in Trondheim as part of the Nordic Ski World Cup?

I have to admit honestly that we don’t have a fixed plan for it yet. We wanted to wait for this decision in Trondheim and pull our teachings out of it. Then together with the Falun Organizing Committee, we will develop a plan on how we can live inclusion there in 2027. Inclusion does not have to mean that it will be the same concept as in Trondheim. Falun has a different stadium, has different framework conditions. We will discuss this with the para side, the non-disabled athletes, the OK falun and the rights holder and then make the decision.

What are your priorities?

We want to drive inclusion. But it has to be stable for everyone – the situation with the weather in Trondheim shows problems with alternative opportunities. No side must lose. We have to guarantee that we offer good, fair competitions for everyone.

Is it also in the World Cup in the direction that para competitions could be included there?

We don’t see this right in the World Cup program at the moment, but of course we talk to the organizers how we can link this together. There are already large World Cup organizers carrying out the para events: for example, Courzevel and St. Moritz at the Alpine or Toblach in Nordic skiing. Back to the World Cup again: there is a reason why the Paralympic Games are not directly with the Olympic Games. Otherwise it just gets too much and you do not do justice to the people involved. Here we still have to find the right concept and we are still in its infancy because Para has not been with FIS for 100 years. We are newcomers and have to learn. But we want to learn as soon as possible.

Does climate change endanger the “business model” of the FIS with the World Cups and big title fights?

I think not in the next ten years, that’s my personal opinion. But of course we will have to work dynamically in a dynamic situation. We have formats that are already adapted to it. Let us also take ski jumping, where we already have events, the hybrid with a ceramic approach and snow take place on the upper jump. You could play that in other disciplines. In the Nordic combination there are shorter cross -country skiing rounds, which saves snow. We are also very far with all of our resource partners in the field of development of Snow Storage. We just have to stay up to date to get skiing.