Para-Alpin-Ski-World Cup am Feldberg: “Historical for the disability sport”

Justus Wolf is actually a national coach of the German Para-Alpin skiers. In the past few weeks, however, he has been “girl for everything”. From the hotel manager to the sponsoring representative to the route manager. Of course, the coach also carted the necessary slopes from poles to barriers from Tegernsee to the Feldberg. Because there has been a three-day World Cup on the schedule since Tuesday-the first Para Alpin World Cup in history in Germany.

“This is a historical event for disabled sports,” the former Monoski double world champion Georg Kriter chose big words before the event started. They are actually appropriate, because it has finally been possible to take a closer look at the extraordinary athletes with a handicap outside of the Paralympics. More than two million people in Germany watched the world games for people with disabilities to the screens-whether last summer partly for Prime Time in Paris or 2022 at the last winter paralympics in Beijing during Corona times.

“We then regularly disappear between the paralympics,” complained national coach Wolf. Until now-because the World Cup on the Feldberg is transferred throughout the ZDF Livestream. Georg Krider will then be an expert: »The audience will see what kind of super-exciting sport that is, in my opinion the most beautiful para sport. And that in Germany, at a World Cup on the doorstep. «The transfers were made possible by a production grant of the public broadcaster and the commitment of sponsors.

Of course, Wolf also had his fingers in the game. A suitable title sponsor was found with Paravan, a world market leader for the disabled -friendly conversion of cars. “Otherwise, this World Cup is a cooperation between the Feldbergbahnen as an event host and the Schwarzwald ski association, which is responsible for the orientation and the helpers,” reports the national coach. “Everyone sees this as an investment in the sport so that something finally gets going in our sport in Germany.”

So far, the financing problem for such Para-Alpin events seemed to be almost insoluble-although the athletes around the repeated Paralympics winner Anna-Lena Forster dominate the world tip. Sponsors often make their commitment dependent on TV broadcasts, which in turn cost (too much) money. Now this cycle finally seems to be broken, also thanks to Justus Wolf’s engagement. “I hope that we can get out of this event with zero and I hope that we can repeat this in the next few years. After all, the structures are there once, and that stays for the next few years. “

Wolf can also get over that he didn’t get a lot to sleep in the last few days before the Premieren World Cup: “The whole thing was a crazy idea.” Also because there are many small inns in the field of the field With the accessibility for wheelchairs there is one or the other problem. But these obstacles were also cleared with the help of Hochschwarzwald Tourismus GmbH – the approximately 160 active people were distributed on hotels. The helpers can live in the Bundeswehr barracks compared to the target slope, where there is hospitality and even a video screen.

There is only one problem to solve for the national coach: “At the next World Cup, calendar planning must be taken into account that the Feldberg will then also be driven on weekends.” So that even more spectators and decision -makers from politics and business can be there in the future. After all, the “historical event” should not remain a mayfly with all the work.