The fifth FIS Coordination Group meeting for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2021 took place on Monday and Tuesday in Oberstdorf (GER). Members of the German Ski Association including President Franz Steinle, Mayor of Oberstdorf Laurent O. Miesand the Oberstdorf 2021 Local Organising Committee welcomed members from FIS and Infront, the media and marketing rights holders for the meetings.

The focus of the meetings was reviewing the work accomplished over the previous six months and the road map ahead both in terms of executing infrastructure and facility projects and the organisational capacity. The vision of the Oberstdorf 2021 team and local community is to leave a legacy for tourism through a revamped Cross-Country area that will provide the World Championships with world-class facilities, while improving the tracks and their flow for every day users after the World Championships. Construction on the tracks started already this October.

Oberstdorf is one of the key destinations for the FIS Nordic World Cup series each season and this upcoming winter will be no different as the Allgäu resort will host the first stop of the traditional Four-Hills Tournament, followed by two stages of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup Tour de Ski just after the New Year.

With such a massive pedigree of hosting premiere FIS events each season, the LOC has much of the infrastructure already in place to host successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Already, the volunteer base is at impressive levels and the communication channels are well-established. This gives the Oberstdorf 2021 the opportunity to turn its attention to making the World Championships an unforgettable experience for the athletes and teams, visitors and viewers. 

Since the last FIS Coordination Group meeting in spring 2018, the focus has been on finalising the design of the projects for the Cross-Country tracks and finish area and in the Ski Jumping stadium, alongside finalising the investment budget with the state and regional authorities, which was successfully accomplished in the past weeks.

Besides hosting the various FIS World Cup events in the upcoming months, the Oberstdorf 2021 team will benefit greatly from attending the study group programme with all the key persons in a wide range of functional areas, as well as undertaking a shadowing programme at the upcoming FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld (AUT), as perhaps the most important part of the Transfer of Knowledge programme. 

FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis: “The progress in Oberstdorf over the past six months has been significant with the transition from the planning to implementation phase and there is a clear roadmap ahead to complete the adaptations to the facilities. The close collaboration between the Local Organising Committee and the Oberstdorf Community working hand in hand to ensure the sustainability of the venues and projects for a wide spectrum of sporting, community and tourism is proving highly effective.” 

Source: fis-ski.com