FIS race director says it was 'not acceptable' to start Zagreb slalom that was stopped over poor conditions
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Published 08/01/2022 at 15:40 GMT
Organizers of the World Cup slalom in Croatia have been criticised by a senior FIS official after the race had to be stopped this week because of poor conditions. FIS race director Markus Waldner says the event "should never have started." Waldner called the decision-making by local organizers "not acceptable." One skier fractured his leg during the race and will miss the Beijing Olympics.
Race officials and team members, stand in finish line area, following the cancellation due to the weather conditions, of the men's FIS Alpine Skiing slalom event, in Sljeme Mountain, some 10km from Zagreb, on January 5, 2022.
Image credit: Getty Images
The race director for the International Ski Federation has criticized organizers of the slalom in Zagreb that had to be stopped because of poor conditions this week, saying the race ”should never have started.”
Markus Waldner, FIS’ race director for the men’s World Cup, said the decision to try to race on a muddy course was “not acceptable.”
Thursday’s race was stopped after 19 skiers tried to navigate a course that lacked sufficient amounts of snow.
Victor Muffat-Jeandet of France fractured his right fibula during his run and said on Instagram that he will miss the Beijing Olympics as a result.
Waldner was not at the race as he had already travelled to Adelboden for this weekend's events, but said he intervened via telephone to stop the competition after local organizers tried to continue.
“But that was already too late, the race should never have started,” Waldner told an Austrian TV station. “How things went there is just not acceptable.”
The men’s slalom had already been postponed by one day after the course showed signs of deterioration during a women’s race on Tuesday.
Waldner added that local organizers ”became aggressive” with the FIS referee at the race when discussing whether to stop, and was adamant that a similar situation must not be repeated.
“Let’s see what we can do in future. This way you cannot race World Cup events,” Waldner said.
This is no advertisement for our sport.
Muffat-Jeandet also called for changes in the way decisions are made about whether to race in poor conditions.
"We are here to race and if we are sent we think the conditions are valid," he wrote
. "The solution could come from an external representative who does not have to race and who could decide alone according to specifications with established criteria such as uniformity and conditions.
"What is worrying and which raises questions is that our staff, with a limited number and means, are preparing tracks for us which are better and less dangerous than what we can sometimes meet in recent years in World Cups, especially since there is no longer really a preparation manager like Hans Pieren, who did everything himself and took his responsibilities before sending any rider."
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