Anyone who speaks to German national coach Ralf Rombach about Finsterau can be sure that they will only hear words of praise. He has been there several times in the past for Para Ski Nordic competitions, in 2017 for the World Championships and most recently in 2020 for a World Cup. Rombach raves about the “warmth of the Bavarian Forest”, about the family atmosphere and the great commitment of everyone involved, about the “cute facility” – and about the buffet with homemade cakes. “That alone is worth the trip,” he says with a smile.
Of course, the national coach and his entourage did not travel to Finsterau just for the cake, but for the home World Cup – the second in a row after the International Biathlon Union (IBU) last week at Notschrei in the southern Black Forest. There were five wins and eight further podium finishes for the German national team. Now the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) invites you to the Para Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, which has four races from Wednesday to Sunday. With the exception of Steffen Lehmker (WSV Clausthal-Zellerfeld), who is unable to play due to professional reasons, all of the German team from Notschrei are back – including Theo Bold, who wants to attack again in Finsterau after a forced break due to wrist problems. In addition, there are four pure cross-country skiing specialists in Merle Menje (StTV Singen), Kathrin Marchand (SC Bayer Leverkusen), Sebastian Marburger (SK Wunderthausen) and Max Weidner (WSV-DJK Rastbüchl) and an exciting young talent in the 15-year-old debutant Johannes Rank (WSV Trusetal); Rank is the first para athlete at the Oberhof sports high school. Rombach’s team for Finsterau includes an impressive seven female athletes, nine athletes and seven guides.
Home game for Max Weidner
Max Weidner’s motivation is particularly high. The 36-year-old from WSV-DJK Rastbüchl is a child of the Bavarian Forest; his home town of Neureichenau, like Finsterau, is part of the Freyung-Grafenau district. Many acquaintances and friends have announced that they want to support him along the route. “I’m really pleased about the positive response this World Cup is having in the region. That speaks for itself,” says Weidner, for whom a lot is at stake in terms of sport. He wants to go to the Paralympics in Val di Fiemme in March and, ideally, achieve the qualification standard on his training trails.
However, this will be anything but a walk in the park – not for him and also for some others in the team who have not yet secured their ticket to Italy. The requirement is to finish a World Cup race with a maximum time gap of five percent to the third place finisher. And the competition is huge. More than 200 athletes from 27 nations registered. There is talk of the largest field of participants ever in a Para Ski Nordic World Cup.
As a result of a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Russia and Belarus are represented again for the first time. This is causing clear criticism within the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS). “We have to accept this, but it contradicts our basic moral and ethical stance, our sporting values - and from our point of view it is unreasonable, especially for the participants from Ukraine,” says the new DBS board member Idriss Gonschinska. DBS President Hans-Jörg Michels adds: “Nothing has changed since the start of Russia’s war of aggression, which violates international law, in February 2022. It was a blatant breach of the unwritten law of the Olympic and Paralympic peace, which was previously respected worldwide.” For Michels, there are also “doubts about the transparency of the classification and the reliability of the doping controls in recent years, especially since Russia was already conspicuous for systematic doping before the exclusion.” The DBS President emphasizes: “Verifiably fair and doping-free sport is essential for us.”
Text: Benjamin Schieler / DBS
The German squad for Finsterau (name, age, place of birth, club):
Women with visual impairment: Linn Kazmaier (19 / Nürtingen / SZ Römerstein, guide: Florian Baumann / 24 /
Nürtingen / SZ Uhingen), Johanna Recktenwald (24 / St. Wendel / Saarland Biathlon Team, guide: Emily
White / 22 / Freiburg / SV Kirchzarten), Leonie Walter (21 / Freiburg / SC St. Peter, guide: Christian Krasman
/ 24 / Stühlingen / Schönwald Ski Club)
Women sitting: Andrea Eskau (54 / Apolda / USC Magdeburg), Merle Menje (21 / Mainz / StTV Singen), Anja
Wicker (34 / Stuttgart / MTV Stuttgart)
Women standing: Kathrin Marchand (35 / Cologne / SC Bayer Leverkusen)
Men with visual impairment: Theo Bold (19 / Velbert / WSV Isny, guide: Jakob Bold / 21 / Essen / WSV
Isny), Nico Messinger (31 / Freiburg / Ring of the Physically Disabled Freiburg, Guide: Robin Wunderle / 27 /
Freiburg / SC Todtnau), Johannes Rank (15 / Schmalkalden / WSV Trusetal, Guide: Adrian Schuler / 29 /
Titisee-Neustadt / SG Schluchsee); Lennart Volkert (22 / Berlin / PSV Munich, Guide: Nils Kolb / 23 /
Freiburg / SV Kirchzarten)
Men standing: Alexander Ehler (56 / Leninogorsk (KAZ) / SV Kirchzarten), Max Long (19 / Rottweil / SV
Kirchzarten), Marco Maier (26 / Oberstdorf / SV Kirchzarten), Sebastian Marburger (28 / Frankenberg (Eder)
/ SK Wunderthausen); Max Weidner (36 / Passau / WSV-DJK Rastbüchl)
The schedule for Finsterau:
Wednesday, January 14th, from 10 a.m.: 10 km individual start, free technique
Thursday, January 15th, from 10 a.m.: 10 km mass start, free technique
Saturday, January 17th, from 10 a.m.: Classic Sprint
Sunday, January 18th, from 10 a.m.: Relay competitions (open relay and mixed)
Further information:
https://www.nordski.de
https://www.fis-ski.com/para-cross-country
https://www.weltcup-finsterau.com
