2023-11-13 05:40:02
Already at the second stage of the World Cup, the innovations of the international federation crashed against the realities of the ski world.
The sensational ban on the use of fluoride in skiing caused a scandal at the first stage in Sölden, Austria.
The disqualified Norwegian Mowinkel is ready to go to court, and the organizers of the next races disown the new law. At the Levi stage, it got to the point that the Finns refused to test the athletes’ skis for fluoride.
The barrage of criticism is killing the authority of the international federation.
Honor Mowinkel
Two weeks ago, at the opening stage of the World Cup, experts and fans were shocked by the disqualification of Ranhild Mowinkel. The top athlete was not given the right to a second attempt due to exceeding the permissible level of fluoride on the surface of the skis.
The indicators went off scale so much that no reasonable person could understand how this could happen. The manufacturing company took the blame, but it was never possible to get to the bottom of the truth. The sports community has tacitly agreed that the apparatus designed to separate the “correct” skis from the “wrong” ones does not always work successfully.
Everything would be fine, but in the new season this device decides the fate of the athletes. The disqualified Mowinckel has dropped in the rankings and will now be in a worse position in the draw for numbers during the next downhill stage. According to the results of Sölden, Mowinckel lost her place in the elite and ended up in the second group, which reduces her chances of success in the giant slalom in Killington, which will be held on November 25. But since the Norwegian’s guilt is not obvious, why should she suffer?
Ranhild Mowinkel / Photo: © NurPhoto / Contributor / NurPhoto / Gettyimages.ru
The race director of the supplier company, Rainer Salzgeber, is trying to explain to FIS President Johan Elias that the skier’s result should not affect the position in the overall standings, and literally demands that the International Federation restore the Norwegian’s previous position.
“As far as I understand, Elias was told that this was a human error, but I wrote to him that this was not the case,” Salzgeber said.
The position of the head of the federation is still unknown, but it is obvious that it is difficult to cope with such pressure from athletes. We need to look for a compromise.
The special position of the Finns
The sports community asks the FIS to understand in detail how the ban works, why the device is not ideal and where such errors arise. In search of justice, victims of the new rules are ready to go to court.
“I hope that no one will find themselves in such a situation.” Perhaps the best option would be to take the case to court, but for now we just want to know why this happened,” Salzgeber concludes.
Finnish ski resort Levi / Photo: © Matthew Williams-Ellis / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Without waiting for the official results of the proceedings, the organizers of the stage in Finnish Levi have already decided to take a brave step – to refuse to test skis for fluoride. On November 11 and 12, slalom competitions are held without control. This is also facilitated by the fact that in Finland the sports leadership refused to introduce a ban on fluoride-containing ointments at domestic competitions. So now they simply scaled this decision to the international level, taking advantage of the general panic.
Mowinckel does not take part in slalom competitions, so he can only regret that a similar decision was not made earlier in Austria. But without the huge scandal two weeks ago, Levi would hardly have decided to take such a step. Now the Finnish position looks like a mutiny on a ship. In essence, the Finns rebelled against a frankly crude rule. At the same time, the ban on the use of fluoride continues to apply, it’s just that no one in Levi checks equipment.
It will be interesting to watch the reaction of Elias and his team. Officials will either have to turn a blind eye to sabotage of their decisions, or introduce strict control over compliance with the new requirements. There is another option with lifting the ban on fluoride, but in this case the FIS will simply admit incompetence and spinelessness. Although this is unlikely to surprise anyone much.
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