Winter sports news blog
US ski star Vonn makes a World Cup comeback
Updated 12/13/2024 – 5:27 p.mReading time: 15 minutes
The winter sports season has begun. In our news ticker you will find all the important news about ski jumping, biathlon, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.
Friday, December 13, 2024
US ski star Lindsey Vonn’s World Cup comeback after a break of almost six years is perfect. The 40-year-old will take part in the two Super-G races in St. Moritz on December 21st and 22nd. “This is big news. She’s back. St. Moritz, here she comes,” wrote her sponsor Red Bull on Instagram.
The US ski team also confirmed their participation. “I have news,” Vonn said in a video: “I heard that St. Moritz is very beautiful this time of year. There’s nothing I love more than skiing.”
Before that, the 2010 Olympic champion wants to compete as a forerunner at the World Cup in Beaver Creek in the US state of Colorado this weekend; she has already completed training runs in downhill and Super G. “It feels so normal to be back in the starting house,” Vonn said.
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Ski stars around Shiffrin are increasing pressure on the head of the association
The ski elite is getting serious: Top athletes such as Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Linus Straßer are once again addressing Fis President Johan Eliasch with a second fire letter. On social media, they denounce the fact that their voices are being heard less and less when it comes to key decisions. The conflict revolves around a rejected 400 million euro deal with the investor CVC.
As the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and the “Blick” report, CVC’s offer was recently rejected by the Fis in favor of a marketing deal with the rights dealer Infront. The athletes are now calling for the CVC proposal to be reconsidered and the Infront deal to be stopped for the time being.
After the first letter of protest, numerous athletes criticized the association’s leadership. Now the pressure is growing while the Fis continues to stick to its line. It remains to be seen whether a change in thinking will occur.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Sofia Goggia is poised for a comeback eight months after her severe shin fracture. She said this at a press conference. Her leg is doing so well again, “as if nothing had happened.” In Copper Mountain, the Italian got used to the racing conditions and was confident.
Goggia has mixed feelings about the return of Lindsey Vonn – who also wants to collect points in the World Cup again soon: “When I found out that Lindsey wanted to return, I was overjoyed. Because it means that she is doing well. On the other hand “But I’m also worried because I really like it. But that feeling applies to everyone because we know that we’re playing a dangerous sport.”
Trouble continues: ski stars rail against the head of the association
The fight for power in the world winter sports association Fis has reached a new dimension. Alpine superstars such as Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt, numerous council members and national associations such as the German Ski Association (DSV) have written an incendiary letter criticizing President Johan Eliasch’s apparently lonely decision to reject an investor’s multi-million dollar offer. This is reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ), among others.
The controversial Eliasch, head of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation Fis since 2021, received a tempting offer from CVC, one of the largest private equity companies in the world, on November 30th: 400 million euros for 20 percent of the shares a company in which the winter sports associations jointly held 80 percent. The goal: joint and central marketing of media and sponsorship rights, among other things.