European Cup Women’s Season with Jordi Pujol

After the season we sat down in Grandvalira Andorra with Jordi Pujol, who is the European Cup Women’s Coordinator. In order to review and to look ahead.

Can you give us an overview how many European Cup races happened during the season and what was your highlight ?

In total we had 36 races. At the beginning of the season we scheduled 38 but we had to cancel the whole Scandinavian tour with 2 SG, 2 GS and 2 SL. We tried to reschedule all 6 races but on the super-G side it was difficult. In the end we had to cancel both super G’s due to adverse weather conditions in Passo San Pellegrino and at the finals in Andorra. Due to the two cancelations it was not the best super-G season, but the downhill season was one of the best ever. That was the highlight. We had very good organizing committees, great preparations before the events and most importantly no injuries at all during the season. All in all on the downhill side it was the top from the top.  Great teamwork!

What was new or the biggest change in this season 21/22?

I hoped and dreamed that we will get over the Covid-19 pandemic before the season starts. Unfortunately it was even more difficult to coordinate from an administrative point of view. We are a very small team in the Europa Cup and it takes away a lot of substance when we have to be race directors and covid managers at the same time. To ensure a successful event we needed both sides this season.

The biggest positive change for us was, that we could count on Matjaz Vrecl in our team, who joined us full time in May 2021 as equipment controller. The demands on us are constantly increasing. Our races need more and more live streaming, which automatically means that media coordination in the finish area and communication tasks need to be fulfilled either by FIS or coordinated with the local organizer.

All of these tasks would currently fall within Matjaz’s tasks or need to be distributed further within the team. We have to continue to grow our team.

Looking back – who were the biggest winners, best newcomers or standing out performances in general?

Well, we have some racers who start with us not even in the top 15 of the European Cup and at the end of the season they are already in the top ranks of the World Cup. For example Zrinka Ljutic who gained a 5th place at the World Cup Finals in Courchevel/Méribel. We try to present a great platform for the athletes to develop and build on, in order to make the leap to the top of the world. Examples like this show, that we are on the right track and that the European Cup plays an important role in the future development of the sport.

What is your biggest wish for the future and what do you want to improve the most?

First of all – no more Covid rules and regulations ;-). Furthermore, we would like to keep the high standards of our speed races and rely on the great team work with the organizers and all the coaches on site. We had a great exchange at the end of the season and will take their feedbacks into account while coordinating the calendar for season 2022/23. A next step would be to install and improve the settings for live-streaming and to get more communication support on site.