The new winter sports season begins: What is changing? Here are the most important innovations known so far.
ski jumping
The ski jumpers get a whole new competition in the World Cup: In mid-February in Rasnov, Romania, for the first time “Great team” determined. In the new format, there are only two jumpers per team instead of the usual four. For this, the number of passes is increased to three. After the first round, the top twelve qualify for the second round, the top eight then compete for victory in the final. “We want to increase the number of participating nations”, explains ski jumping race director Sandro Pertile. The competition was already tested at the Summer Grand Prix in September, also in Rasnov.
At the start of the World Cup in early November in Wisla, Poland, there will be a for the first time in ski jumping history World Cup competition without any snow take place: Instead, the athletes fly off the ice track onto mats.
In the material control In the future, two inspectors will check the suit, skis and bindings, previously there was only one. the binding must be mounted flat and directly on the ski from this winter. So far, the ski jumpers have had a bit of leeway.
Incidentally, the ski jumpers experience the longest season in history. Ski jumping takes place on 150 days in winter – the ski jumping entourage leaves Europe twice. In January, women and men are guests in Japan, and at the beginning of February the men fly to Lake Placid in the USA.
luge
The lugers are experiencing a real revolution – at least the two-seaters: From this winter, the duos have to go with one unit slide drive. In the future, the sleds will be lower, the runners and steering horns will be further apart. This should make the device easier to steer and slower. This could be an advantage for previously weaker nations, as only a few nations such as Germany or Austria could afford the technical upgrades of the past few years.
And it is precisely these top athletes who are protesting the rule change. On the one hand because of the timetable: the change was only decided in the summer. At a time when many athletes have long been working on their new sled.
For example, development costs of around 50,000 euros have already flowed into the new competition machine for the doubles riders Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken. “We can throw it in the trash now,” says Eggert, who, like all the competition, has to adjust to a completely new tool before the World Cup in Oberhof in January.
biathlon
In biathlon, too, things should be even more exciting in the coming season: the world association IBU has changed the rating system for this. That’s how they fall strike results in the overall World Cup. Previously, the two worst results were discarded at the end of the season. Athletes who were in form or had an infection could skip a race without losing contact with the front.
Johannes Thingnes Bö (left) snatched the overall World Cup from Martin Fourcade in 2020 with his discarded results.
“The change was hotly debated”said IBU Race Director Borut Nunar at the Forum Nordicum in September, and looking back at the 2019/2020 season stated: “A few years ago, Martin Fourcade started the last race as the World Cup leader, won the race and ended up only second. You can’t explain that to anyone. Now the athlete with the most points after the last race is also the winner is.”
In order to compensate for the eliminated results, the point system was adjusted. For a win there is now more pointsthe gaps between the other places are larger: 90, 75, 60 instead of 60, 54, 48 points are now awarded for the first three places.
For World Cup races there will be in the future no World Cup points more.
cross country skiing
A new scoring system is also introduced in cross-country skiing. Unlike in biathlon, however, the distances are reduced. For the first five places there are now 100, 95, 90, 85, 80 instead of 100, 80, 60, 50, 45 points. Like the Biathlon Association IBU, the World Association FIS is also hoping for more excitement through this measure.
An analysis for the past winters presented at the Forum Nordicum shows that it could be more exciting at the front. In addition, those athletes who miss fewer races would be rewarded.
figure skating
After the Olympic drama about the only 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valiewa, the World Skating Union acted and that minimum age raised. In the future, figure skaters must be at least 17 years old to be allowed to compete in international competitions. However, gradually until the 2026 Olympics. So the rule will not come into force this winter. From 2023/24, the athletes must be at least 16 years old, and the minimum age of 17 only applies in the following winter.
The only 15-year-old Valiewa had fueled the age debate in figure skating.
There are also minor changes in the rating system: a jump sequence is now just as valuable as a combination.
Never ending Fluor Wax Discussion
So when is the long-prescribed by the EU coming? Fluor wax ban under skis? The implementation, which has already been announced several times by the world federations IBU and FIS, has been postponed again. The reason lies in the not yet completely error-free testing. Both IBU and FIS rely on an infrared radiation-based measurement method FTIR (a measurement device costs a five-digit amount). And this method is not yet completely error-free.
New date for the ban on fluorine: The 2023/24 season. A test in the World Cup with a so-called unit wax, which all nations must then have on their skis, could be at the Sprint World Cup in Tallinn in March 2023. FIS Cross-Country Head Uros Ponikvar announced this in an interview on the website of the Slovenian Ski Association. xc-ski.de was the first to report on the test.
A biathlete runs on the track.
lead in the ammunition
Similar to the fluorine in ski waxes, the lead in biathletes’ ammunition could also be affected. after one EU ban the association would have to follow suit and ban the lead. According to Daniel Böhm, sports director of the world association IBU, there are signs of an EU ban. Because lead bullets damage the environment and also the athletes.
The problem: “Currently there are no economically affordable alternatives that offer the same precision as lead bullets”, Böhm said at the Forum Nordicum in September. The IBU relies on bullet collection and a high recycling rate. An EU decision on the ban is expected in December.