“Horrified, sad and speechless”
Conditions in Para-WM shock ski world
07.02.2025 – 9:10 a.m.Reading time: 3 min.
While the Ski World Cup in Saalbach is in full swing, the Speed competitions were simply canceled at the Para World Championship. The criticism is now getting louder.
The SKI World Cup is currently taking place in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria. The weather is optimal and the first medals have already been awarded. A scenario that the athletes can only dream of at the Para-Ski World Cup. In the Slovenian Maribor, the speed competitions of the World Cup were simply canceled. The reason: there is too little snow. The World Association FIS Para Snow Sports is criticized, the athletes are frustrated. There were already enough warnings, but these were ignored.
The ski area in Maribor is at less than 1,000 meters of altitude. Unlike in Saalbach, the temperatures are in plus. Conditions that make speed races impossible. Justus Wolf, the German national coach of the alpine para-ski racers, had already said in December last year: “Snow security is a big problem. You can get enough snow for a slalom, but at the World Cup there are also the speed disciplines in Program.
To the cancellations, Wolf told the Sport information service (in short: SID): “This is a farce, disrespectful to the teams that also had high costs.” The German monoskibober Anna-Lena Forster told the SID: “We are simply horrified, sad and speechless how it all works. It cannot be that we are still treated so neglected. I think we really deserve better.”
The four -time Paralympic winner added: “Something has to happen in the future. We can no longer put up with that.” The poor conditions for the para athletes have also arrived at the Ski World Cup in Saalbach. The US ski racer Breezy Johnson was disappointed with the conditions on site and demanded more attention to para sport.
Johnson published a picture comparison in her story on Instagram: a recording from the target slope in Maribor next to a photo from Saalbach. She wrote to make a solution to the para athletes wishes and better conditions in the future. The difference is enormous, she also says to the Austrian “Standard” In Saalbach: “I saw the photos and asked myself: Is that really?
Johnson, who rides her first World Cup medal in Saalbach on Saturday, demands better conditions for para athletes. “We should do it better as a ski community. The differences to us are huge. We have better conditions here alone on the warm-up route than on the racetrack at the Para World Cup,” said the 29-year-old.
It is also committed to increasing the visibility of the parasport. “I think what happens in Maribor should find out more people. The more of it is shown, the more eyes are focused on the races. Then there would also be more interested parties to carry the para-WM,” said the American . Your proposal: carry out the competitions in parallel to other world championships to achieve more spectators and media presence.
ÖSV sports director Mario Stecher supports this idea. He therefore told the “Standard”: “That would also be good for the standing of para sport.” The FIS responsible were finally threatened with critics. However, the critics are not only concerned with the Para-Ski World Cup, but also about the World Cup. Races were also canceled there because the external conditions did not allow races.
The German national coach Wolf added to the SID: “But the even bigger problem is that the topic of FIS has no relevance.” He therefore hoped that “it will be learned for the future” and that the athletes and those responsible are no longer disappointed, but that sport is coming to the fore.