The 2021/22 season is in the books. Which moment was your favorite looking back?
There are actually two. First of all the the Winter Olympic Games. I’m very happy with the outcome, very fair and exciting events through two weeks in Beijing 2022. The Olympic Winter Games showed again that Nordic Combined is one of the most exciting Nordic disciplines. The other moment was the mixed team event that we had in Val di Viemme. A new format for us on the World Cup level and this will be a very exciting and fun event for us in the future.
The NC women had their first full WC season. How satisfied are you with their development?
I’m very satisfied how it went this season on the women’s side. Very thankful for the support we got from the national ski federations so far. We also see a very good development over the last couple of years in the sport. On the women’s side we have a dominator with Gyda Westvold Hansen making sure that the rest of the teams, the rest of the athletes and nations see where the level is. I think Gyda will already face a hard fight and though competitors going into the next season. We are definitely making sure that we are developing in the right way. We see new nations establishing themselves at the top. Slovenia is one of them having a top three overall world cup finish. We are happy to see that we have more and more a variety of nations fighting for the podiums in the world cup.
During Nordic weekends, like in Ruka or Oslo, all 3 Nordic disciplines are competing in one venue together. What challenges are you facing as a Race Director to make such a packed weekend work?
Hopefully we have done our work up front, so that during the weekend itself, things are running quite smoothly. Of course on site there is a lot of coordination between three or four different disciplines. In terms of training on the cross-country course, training on the ski jumping hill, making sure the wax trucks can do their work, together with the wax trucks from cross-country. On the jumping hills there could be a delay due to wind or weather and of course there is a crucial coordination part, as once we are one hour late with our program, we are moving into or interfering with the ski jumping women’s time slot. Basically I’m trying to keep an overview of the weekend, when everything is happening and trying to support as best my team where it’s needed. Again, the most important work happens up front, to coordinate and make sure that the timing fits within the three disciplines.
Even if there are no competitions in the next few months, things will remain exciting for Nordic Combined fans. Can you tell us about the important decision that will be made in June?
The decision in June is for us and at least in my time at FIS so far the most important decision that will happen. It’s regarding the overall program for the Olympic Winter Games 2026 in Cortina. The IOC will make the decision when we come to June, if the women will be on the program or not. This will define the future of our sport.
„The last day of the season, is the first day of the new one“ – How does a typical summer break look like for a race director?
Going into a new season means a lot of planning now in April and parts of May with a lot of meetings. Then we move into a summer period where June and July is a little bit more relaxed and a time to reload the batteries. Then we move into August/September when we have our summer grand prix and we try to visit all the world cup organisers for the inspections going into next year’s world cups. So a hectic fall. It’s a lot of planning also towards World Championships 2023 and 2025, even for the Olympics 2026 we will have the first coordination group meetings there. Looking ahead, as well as planning happens usually in the summer break and when we come towards fall, it’s more and more preparing for the season.
