FIS News
„We have ambitious goals for the ladies!“
The FIS Congress in Cancun was a busy time for Race Director Lasse Ottesen. For TUESDAY TALK, he recaps his time in Mexico, looks to future title events and developments and talks some fixed deadlines for Ladies’ Nordic Combined.
What is your bottom-line now that the FIS Congress in Cancun is over?
Lasse Ottesen: It’s very positive. We’ve had a lot of good meetings with good and constructive feedback. We also see a good improvement in the tv ratings, the viewers and media impact even though the past season was difficult. The calendar for next winter has a record-breaking 25 events, I am very happy about that.
We met with Korea for the Olympics 2018 where we will go in the upcoming winter for the big test event. We also met with Beijing 2022 to see how things are developing there, so from our point of view, it was a successful and productive Congress.
As you said, Congress-time is also the time to get updates from all Organising Committees present. How are things looking for the big event coming up next winter, Lahti 2017? Is everything prepared?
Ottesen: Yes, we’ve had some smaller updates venue-wise. The wind-nets will be upgraded on the jumping hill, both inruns have been equipped with new artificial inrun tracks. Lahti has undergone a face-lift, especially on the cross-country part. Our Team Sprint will be a night event which is a first for us. We will also have two different cross-country courses, a north and a south 2.5 km loop, so it’s not the same course through the World Championships which I also think is a positive step for Nordic Combined. At the moment, we feel very confident going into the World Championship season.
Ladies’ Nordic Combined has been a big part of the agenda for the last couple of years. How are things developing in regards to this?
Ottesen: The main discussions we had here in Cancun were about Ladies’ Nordic Combined. We have decided to produce a strategy document with the main goals for the future from our side. It will be presented at the FIS Autumn Meetings in Zürich. We aim for the girls to take part in the Junior World Championships in 2019, we aim for the Youth Olympic Games in 2020 and the World Championships in 2021. These are ambitious goals, yes, but we do hope for the support of the National Ski Federations and then I think it’s doable.
One core part of the FIS Congress is the election of the World Championship organisers. How did you experience the last hours before the announcement?
Ottesen: It was very exciting. When it comes to the Nordics, we are in a luxury position compared to some of the other disciplines. For the last, I think four elections, we’ve had three or four candidates fighting for the Nordic World Championships. This time, we had three excellent candidates with Planica, Oberstdorf and Trondheim. It was very exciting to find out who won and who will host the 2021 championships.
After the Congress is before the Summer Grand Prix. Any news regarding this, venues, programs, anything special?
Ottesen: Well, the calendar is confirmed now. It’s going to be the same stable, good organisers that we’ve had in the last years with Oberwiesenthal as the opening, Villach in Austria and Oberstdorf as the finals. At the moment, I feel that the Summer Grand Prix is really building as a product. It’s something we will discuss for next summer, to develop it even more.
Source: fis-ski.com
What is your bottom-line now that the FIS Congress in Cancun is over?
Lasse Ottesen: It’s very positive. We’ve had a lot of good meetings with good and constructive feedback. We also see a good improvement in the tv ratings, the viewers and media impact even though the past season was difficult. The calendar for next winter has a record-breaking 25 events, I am very happy about that.
We met with Korea for the Olympics 2018 where we will go in the upcoming winter for the big test event. We also met with Beijing 2022 to see how things are developing there, so from our point of view, it was a successful and productive Congress.
As you said, Congress-time is also the time to get updates from all Organising Committees present. How are things looking for the big event coming up next winter, Lahti 2017? Is everything prepared?
Ottesen: Yes, we’ve had some smaller updates venue-wise. The wind-nets will be upgraded on the jumping hill, both inruns have been equipped with new artificial inrun tracks. Lahti has undergone a face-lift, especially on the cross-country part. Our Team Sprint will be a night event which is a first for us. We will also have two different cross-country courses, a north and a south 2.5 km loop, so it’s not the same course through the World Championships which I also think is a positive step for Nordic Combined. At the moment, we feel very confident going into the World Championship season.
Ladies’ Nordic Combined has been a big part of the agenda for the last couple of years. How are things developing in regards to this?
Ottesen: The main discussions we had here in Cancun were about Ladies’ Nordic Combined. We have decided to produce a strategy document with the main goals for the future from our side. It will be presented at the FIS Autumn Meetings in Zürich. We aim for the girls to take part in the Junior World Championships in 2019, we aim for the Youth Olympic Games in 2020 and the World Championships in 2021. These are ambitious goals, yes, but we do hope for the support of the National Ski Federations and then I think it’s doable.
One core part of the FIS Congress is the election of the World Championship organisers. How did you experience the last hours before the announcement?
Ottesen: It was very exciting. When it comes to the Nordics, we are in a luxury position compared to some of the other disciplines. For the last, I think four elections, we’ve had three or four candidates fighting for the Nordic World Championships. This time, we had three excellent candidates with Planica, Oberstdorf and Trondheim. It was very exciting to find out who won and who will host the 2021 championships.
After the Congress is before the Summer Grand Prix. Any news regarding this, venues, programs, anything special?
Ottesen: Well, the calendar is confirmed now. It’s going to be the same stable, good organisers that we’ve had in the last years with Oberwiesenthal as the opening, Villach in Austria and Oberstdorf as the finals. At the moment, I feel that the Summer Grand Prix is really building as a product. It’s something we will discuss for next summer, to develop it even more.
Source: fis-ski.com
