It was announced this morning that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-21 alpine skiing World Cup season will be skipping its traditional stops in North America.
The decision was agreed upon jointly by the sport’s international federation (FIS), the national ski associations, and the local organizing committees in both the United States and Canada. According to a joint statement, “The objective of FIS is to carry out a full World Cup competition program, protecting the health and welfare of all participants to the best extent possible. The temporary realignment of the FIS Alpine World Cup Calendar in 2020-21 caters to this goal by focusing on athlete safety, reducing travel, and providing competitors with a detailed competition calendar.”
Both the men’s and women’s circuits had been scheduled to come through the U.S. and Canada at the end of November, with women’s races scheduled in Killington, Vermont, and Lake Louise, Alberta, and men’s races slated for Beaver Creek, Colorado, as well as Lake Louise. Instead, these races will be replaced by additional events in Europe. It is expected that the women’s calendar will add a downhill race to the stop already scheduled for St. Moritz, Switzerland and two technical races to the program in Courchevel, France. The men’s events in Val d’Isere, France, will be expanded to include a downhill and super-G.
The revised World Cup calendar will be approved following the FIS Technical Meetings, which are scheduled from September 30 through October 2.
It is expected that the stops in Killington, Lake Louise, and Beaver Creek will be added back to the World Cup schedule for the 2021-22 season.
The 2020-21 alpine skiing World Cup season is scheduled to get underway on October 17-18 for the traditional giant slalom races on Rettenbach Glacier in Soelden, Austria.
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👋! Just wanted to take some time to share my thoughts on the recent news about the @fisalpine World Cup races in the fall shifting to Europe from North America.
— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) August 20, 2020
I think by now everyone probably knows that @killingtonmtn is my favorite race...(cont. in comments below) pic.twitter.com/CXMcb7q45U
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEHafl3p7KV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link[/embed]