Pierre Teyssot / Action Plus / imago images
Marlene Schmotz at the Giant Slalom World Cup in Sölden (23.10.2021)
Last weekend the Alpine Ski World Cup kicked off in Sölden in Tyrol. It was the 21st time that the Ski World Cup on the Rettenbachferner Glacier opened with a giant slalom for women and men. It is a kind of prologue. The World Cup season doesn’t really begin for six weeks. It makes sense to question the sense of the races in Sölden. Not only because the dates are separated from the rest of the season. Glaciers are sensitive ecosystems that are anything but good for artificial snow races of this kind, which involve massive amounts of groundwater and the use of chemicals. Racers from North America, New Zealand, and Japan must travel long distances for a single race. But: The advance booking season for ski holidays in the Alps begins in October, and effective advertising media is needed. In a sports industry permeated by the logic of capitalist exploitation, there is no argument that pulls stronger.
The election of the Swedish-British entrepreneur Johan Eliasch as President of the International Ski Federation (FIS) in June 2021 confirmed how close the connection between skiing and the interests of the industry has become. Eliasch succeeded the late Swiss Gian Franco Kasper, who held the post for 23 years. Eliasch has no merits as an athlete or sports official. Lots of money for that. In 1995 he took over one of the largest ski companies in the world. Perfect for a sports association that is increasingly being run as a company.
The FIS committee responsible for designing the Alpine Ski World Cup made some changes for the 2021/2022 season. Not only is the number of races balanced for women and men (37 each), but also those between the technology and speed competitions: nine downhill runs, super-Gs, giant slaloms and slaloms are held. There is also a single parallel race. After years of experimenting with the TV-compatible, but sportily worthless format, the FIS officials finally gave in to the protests of the drivers. They deleted the joke event almost entirely from the program. Only in the Austrian luxury ski resort Lech / Zürs will there still be a parallel competition. Here, too, this is due to the advertising effect for the tourism industry. The long controversial alpine combination (slalom plus downhill or super-G) has been completely canceled. However, the traditional competition will take place at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In the overall women’s World Cup this season, a duel between last year’s winner Petra Vlhova from Slovakia and the US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is emerging. After her father’s accidental death in February 2020, Shiffrin did without many races for a year, but wants to fully attack this season. The Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami is granted outsider opportunities.
For the men, there could be another duel between the French Alexis Pinturault and the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Kilde won the 2019/2020 overall World Cup ahead of Pinturault, benefiting from the early termination of the season due to Corona. Pinturault, on the other hand, triumphed in the 2020/2021 season, but benefited from an injury from Kilde. Both have to watch out for the Swiss shooting star Marco Odermatt.
The opening event in Sölden saw the favorites in front of the women: Shiffrin won her seventieth World Cup race, followed by Gut-Behrami and Vlhova. In the men’s category, Odermatt showed that he can be expected this year. He won ahead of giant slalom specialists Roland Leitinger from Austria and Zan Kranjec from Slovenia. The German participants were more likely to be among the more distant. The best among women was Marlene Schmotz (SC Leitzachtal) in 28th place. In the men’s category, Stefan Luitz (SC Bolsterlang) was 17th.
