Placing new competition venues far from Europe is not the most environmentally friendly activity.
- Johan Eliasch cherishes traditions and wants new race venues.
- China and the United States will be more widely used as competition hosts in the future.
President of the International Ski Federation FIS Johan Eliasch wants to renew the world cup calendars of different sports.
– The will of the new chairman is to visibly take FIS sports to China and the United States. This winter, the Alpine World Cup will already be held twice in the United States, he says Tanja-Poutiainen-Rinne.
Alpi’s calendar includes early season races in Killington and Beaver Creek, as well as late season races in California’s Palisades Tahoe and Colorado’s Aspen.
Challenging Travel
The athletes have to fly twice from Europe to the United States.
– Every kilometer traveled is a bit challenging for an athlete. On the other hand, these are the world’s best athletes in the sport, they go where they need to go, Poutiainen-Rinne thinks.
– From the beginning of the season, there are good training conditions, especially for pacers. Between November and December, there may not be enough snow in Europe yet, Poutiainen-Rinne continues.
Perhaps it is not the most environmentally friendly activity, however.
Not far
Olympic silver medalist Tanja Poutiainen-Rinne is part of the FIS alpine skiing management team. TIMO KUNNARI
Poutiainen is part of the FIS alpine skiing management team, he knows what is being planned behind the scenes on a wider scale.
In the World Cup calendar, the freestyle and snowboarding competitions in China have been marked for the winter of 2023 – but only tentatively.
– I believe that the expansion of the World Cup to China is not far off. Alppi will probably go there first. Eliasch has a grip on the Alps. The first one there will definitely be an evening race of technical sports (slalom and giant slalom), that would be a good TV viewing time in the European market.
Beijing will host the Winter Games in February, so the venues are ready in the country.
– In the 2023–24 season, we may already see the Alpine World Cup race in China. However, it has not been confirmed yet, thinks the Rovaniemi resident.
There is huge growth potential for sports in China and the United States, also in terms of equipment, so the ultimate reason for expanding the calendar is money.
Wealthy boss
Swede Eliasch was elected FIS chairman in June 2021. He is a businessman, investor and environmentalist. Mies was the CEO of the sports equipment company Head between 1995 and 2021 and is now the chairman of the brand.
The Swede is also concerned about environmental issues, in 2006 he founded Cool Earth, a non-profit organization focused on the protection of rainforests.
The checkout is fine. The Sunday Times estimates that Eliasch will be the 50th richest person in Britain in 2022. The newspaper estimates the man’s fortune to be 3.6 billion pounds.
New and old
Johan Eliasch heads the International Ski Federation and is a wealthy man. PDO
The Swedish skiing boss has two different ideas regarding the World Cup host locations.
– He wants new race organizers to join. On the other hand, according to him, traditional competition venues must be cherished.
Ruka, Levi and Lahti are among the organizers of FIS World Cups in the 2022–23 season.
– The events must continue to be developed and the high level maintained. Levi can offer good training conditions for a couple of weeks in the early season. It increases the value of Levi’s race, Poutiainen-Rinne thinks.
Skiers positive
Eliasch’s ideas receive positive feedback from cross-country skiing.
– I have less experience in China, but there are such great conditions in the Yankees and Canada in many places that the development sounds absolutely good, says Jasmi Joensuu.
The 26-year-old Joensuu competed and was on the University of Denver team for four years. He knows North American cross-country conditions.
– The sport needs new countries and new competition locations. The system needs to be renewed from time to time. Quite interesting ideas, thinks Anne Kyllönen.