FIS NEWS
New season, new faces: Coach changes in Alpine Skiing

As teams and athletes continue to test equipment and recharge their batteries for the new season, there have been several changes in the coaching ranks of many FIS Alpine World Cup teams. Here is a summary of some that have come to the attention of the FIS Newsflash:

Several changes have taken place within Italy. Richard Weissensteiner, a newly-elected FISI Vice President, has taken over from Flavio Roda as Sports Director while Carmelo Ghilardi is now responsible for the ladies’ program and Ivano Edalini for the youth sector. Claudio Ravetto has been named the new Head Coach for the men. Previously he was responsible for the slalom team, including Giorgio Rocca. The new Head Coach for the Italian ladies’ team is the charismatic Much Maier, a former downhill racer.

In Austria, the relatively challenging season for the traditionally very successful downhill team led to the restructuring of the men’s training groups. Following the dismantling of the downhill team (Grugger, Buder, Kröll & Strobl), there are now only three training groups, led by Andreas Evers, Jürgen Kriechbaum, und Christian Höflehner, respectively. Höflehner replaced Gert Ehn as Coach for the slalom team. Walter Hubmann, previously Coach of the downhill team, will move to a new role within OeSV. Bernd Brunner, it’s reported, has left his post as the ladies’ slalom Coach to take on new responsibilities in the youth sector; his replacement is not yet known.

Following a successful season for the Swiss national team, the European Cup trainer duo Christian Brüesch and Daniele Petrini replaced Fritz Züger as the ladies’ giant slalom coach in Switzerland. Their replacement in the European Cup is Jörg Roten. In Sweden, the new Alpine Head Coach is Thomas Stauffer, previously responsible for the Swedish ladies’ World Cup team. His successor on the ladies side is Hans Ottosson while the men’s team remains under the coordination of Helmuth Krug. Rudi Soulard for the men and Olof Buchar for the ladies have moved up from their respective European Cup teams to support the World Cup.

In France, the biggest change is that after 15 years of separate slalom and giant slalom teams, a single group of technical racers has been created with David Chastan as Head Coach, assisted by Jacques Theolier, Laurent Butafoghi, Stephane Quittet and Olivier Pedron. Yves Dimier will remain Alpine Director while Gilles Brenier will continue to manage the men’s team and Jean Philippe Vulliet the ladies’ team. As reported in Åre, Janez Slivnik (SLO) replaced Michel Bont as Head Coach for the Finnish ladies’ team. Bont, returning to the family business, will continue as personal condition trainer for Tanja Poutiainen, however. At the same time, Mike Morin, the US men's slalom and giant slalom Head Coach, resigned and was replaced by Sasha Rearick, Coach of the US men's European Cup for the past two seasons. The US men’s Head Coach Phil McNichol is still undecided about whether or not he will continue in his role next season. In Germany, the main change is the appointment of Christian Scholz as the new men’s Head Coach. He replaces Werner Margreiter who resigned at the end of the season. Mario Weinhandel succeeds Wolfgang Erharter as Coach for the men’s technical group around Felix Neureuther. Changes are still pending in Canada, possibly also in Slovenia, along with additional refinements and appointments that are outstanding in some of the above teams.

www.fis-ski.com

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Snowbird
Snowbird, Utah – Skiing and snowboarding in Utah has not ended yet, as Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort will open for one final weekend of spring skiing, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 18-20. Sunday, May 20, will signal the close of resort skiing in Utah with the last day of skiing and riding at Snowbird, Utah ’s only resort still open for skiing and riding.
“We’re happy to be able to open the upper mountain for one final weekend as a thank you to locals and season ticket holders for another great season,” said Snowbird President Bob Bonar.
Snowbird will be open for skiing and riding Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 18-20, conditions permitting. Lift tickets will be $49/day. Little Cloud Chairlift, accessing the Mark Malu Fork and Rasta Chute ski runs, will operate from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Park in the Snowbird Center lot, Snowbird Entry 2, and take the Tram to Little Cloud Chairlift.
Snowbird’s late-season skiing and snowboarding is not for beginners. Only advanced terrain is available from the Little Cloud Chairlift.
Sunday will mark the 180th day of lift-accessed skiing and riding at Snowbird during the season that spanned seven months from November to May.
Live music will entertain skiers and snowboarders on the Snowbird Center Plaza Deck Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
www.snowbird.com


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The International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today launched the bid process for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016. The 203 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have been invited to submit the name of a city within their jurisdiction as an Applicant to host the Games in nine years’ time. The key dates of the procedure are as follows:
Phase I - known as the candidature acceptance procedure, involves a thorough review by the IOC of each city’s potential to organise the 2016 Olympic Games. Cities will be asked to reply to a questionnaire. Their answers will be studied by the IOC in order to help the IOC Executive Board to select the cities that will become Candidate Cities and therefore move on to Phase II.
13 September 2007 NOCs to inform the IOC of the name of an Applicant City
14 January 2008 Submission of Application File and guarantee letters to the IOC
Jan-June 2008 Examination of replies by the IOC
June 2008 IOC Executive Board acceptance of Candidate Cities


Phase II -known as the candidature procedure, Candidate Cities will be requested to submit their Candidature File, that is to say an in-depth description of their Olympic project, and prepare for the visit of the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Evaluation Commission will make a detailed technical assessment of each candidature and publish a report one month before the election of the Host City for IOC members to review.

8 – 24 August 2008 Olympic Games Observer Programme – Beijing 2008
12 February 2008 Submission of Candidature File to the IOC
One month before the
election of the Host Report of the 2016 IOC Evaluation Commission
City
2 October 2009 Election of the Host City of the 2016 Olympic Games during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen


www.olympic.org,

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