The World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm begin with a test. The team competition in the parallel format is once again under special scrutiny.
04.02.2025, 05:00
04.02.2025, 06:50
SDA
The sentence is of course not meant seriously. "The World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm begin on Thursday with the women's Super-G", is something that can be heard here and there these days. Of course, the sentence is not true. The first competition will be the team competition on Tuesday.
The sentence is not true, but there is a widespread opinion behind it. The team competition continues to polarize, it is still denied unrestricted recognition and its status cannot be compared with that of conventional (individual) competitions. This has been the case for 20 years, ever since it was included in the World Championship program - and this will not change in the near future at least.
It was at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Congress in Miami 21 years ago that the course was set to put the idea into practice with the commitment to the new format. The premiere followed the following winter at the World Championships in Bormio. The loudest critical voices were heard from Austria. The negative opinion had nothing to do with the fact that the number one skiing nation in Valtellina at the time only managed second place behind the Germans, who were outdoing themselves. However, the association president at the time, Peter Schröcksnadel, put his opinion into perspective two years later - just as "his" team had won gold in Are in Sweden.
No improvement on the Arlberg
The critical votes revolved around the view that the alpine scene should remain an individual sport and that team competitions were not in line with the basic idea. Opponents have since moved away from such justifications - probably also in view of the development in other sports with the increasing emphasis on team competitions. Strangely enough, the opposite has been the case in the alpine skiing for some time now. The last time there were parallel races in the World Cup was a good three years ago in Lech/Zürs.
The event on the Arlberg was accompanied by the hope of improvement, with the belief that the bad events nine months earlier at the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo could be counteracted. The attempt failed. As in the village in the Dolomites, a lack of understanding spread and discussions about the condition of the piste became more frequent as the race progressed. The bone of contention here and there was the fact that one course allowed the better times. Accordingly, the passage limiting the maximum possible gap after the first run to half a second again became the subject of dispute.
Another point that is still being argued is also the responsibility of the FIS superiors. The constant mode changes are confusing and continuity is an impossibility. Initially, the team competition consisted of the super-G and slalom disciplines. After three world championships, the regulations were changed to a parallel giant slalom - only to switch completely from a parallel race, a middle ground between giant slalom and slalom, to parallel slalom after two events. Finally, four years ago in Cortina d'Ampezzo, there was a new turnaround towards giant slalom-style races.
The constant changes not only led to dissatisfaction among the heads of the national associations and the public, but also among the racers - partly because the rotations also had an impact on the prospects of success. Switzerland, for example, was a power in times with parallel slaloms. The teams led by Ramon Zenhäusern and Wendy Holdener were a force at the Olympic premiere seven years ago at the Games in Pyeongchang and the following season at the World Championships in Are. Since the goal gap widened again, Switzerland has failed to finish on the podium three times at major events. In Cortina d'Ampezzo and at the last World Championships two years ago in Courchevel/Méribel in France, they only managed 4th and 5th place respectively, before finishing 6th on the slopes in Yanqing at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Almost no top athletes
The limited appreciation of parallel races is often reflected in the nominations of the individual teams. The big nations in particular rarely or never compete in the best possible formation. Many of the strongest teams focus on their entries in the individual disciplines - which in turn is not conducive to the appeal of the format.
With their constant adjustments, the FIS decision-makers give the impression of seekers who, despite their best efforts, fail time and again in their attempt to create the perfect overall picture. The reality is different. The ideas are not entirely convincing. Unrestricted acceptance will probably never be achieved.
The next attempt will be made at the FIS during the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. The latest achievement is called the team combination. This involves two skiers teaming up, one of whom competes in the downhill and the other in the slalom. The ranking is based on the total time of the two runs.
There are no starting points at the highest level. This variant has never been used in the World Cup. The only test runs have taken place in the past two winters at the Junior World Championships. Nevertheless, the whole thing sounds good for now, especially as there is the prospect that there will be more top athletes at the start than in parallel competitions.
The general expectations are correspondingly high. There have been no rumblings so far in Saalbach-Hinterglemm that the second week of competition will start on Thursday, the same day as the women's giant slalom.
