The fourth FIS Coordination Group meeting for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2021 took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Oberstdorf (GER). Members of the German Ski Association including President Franz Steinle, the Oberstdorf 2021 Local Organising Committee, together with Mayor Laurent O. Mies welcomed members from FIS and Infront, the official media and marketing partner for the meetings.

Oberstdorf is one of the key destinations for the FIS Nordic World Cup tours each season and this last winter was no different as the Allgäu resort hosted the traditional Four-Hills Tournament, followed by two stages of the Tour de Ski. The main event of the season was the extremely successful FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2018 and as dessert, the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup finals for the ladies.

All of the events provided the local Organisers with a chance to promote the FIS World Championships 2021, recruit volunteers and test the operational capacties. They also gave the Oberstdorf team extremely valuable experience with a wide multitude of weather conditions as Mother Nature provided very challenging conditions throughout the winter.

Since the last Coordination Group meeting in December 2017, the focus has been on building the LOC operational team and on finalising the design of the infrastructure and construction projects for the Cross-Country tracks and finish area and in the Ski Jumping stadium, which was the main focus of the Coordination Group meeting.

At next season’s Seefeld 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the Oberstdorf team will benefit from first hand transfer of knowledge at the Final Inspection in Seefeld (AUT) this autumn and on site during the World Championships in February 2019.

During the Coordination Group meeting, the Oberstdorf 2021 Local Organisers provided a comprehensive progress report on several other areas including marketing, press facilities, promotional activities alongside a number of functional and technical areas.

“The Oberstdorf Organisers had an exceptionally busy winter season, which has contributed hugely to the capacity of the workforce and volunteers as they build towards 2021,” said FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis. “The infrastructure projects which are being finalised and are well in hand, focus on the legacy aspects for competition requirements and youth development activities, as well as providing significantly enhanced facilities for recreational sport especially cross-country skiing to boost the tourism offering in Oberstdorf.”