Impressions of the World Ski Championships – pure sun, moderate enthusiasm and the big bus challenge – sport

The Ski World Cup 2023 in Courchevel/Méribel is history. What was faltering at the beginning soon ran smoothly.

With Henrik Kristoffersen’s victory in the World Championship slalom in Courchevel, the fights for the title ended on Sunday with a race to catch up under bright sunshine. The weather was also at its best on the 14th day of the World Cup in the French Alps. It was the fitting conclusion of the 47th World Championships.

However, not everything at the World Cup was as perfect as the weather over the two-week period. Especially in the first few days, the atmosphere in the World Cup stadiums was difficult to get going. On the one hand, this was due to the lack of enthusiasm in France, on the other hand, the scheduling of the first World Championship races: Alpine combinations are not only less important for the athletes, but obviously also for the public. Other competitions at the start would probably have ignited the World Cup fire earlier. From the Swiss point of view, Wendy Holdener’s combination silver remained the only medal for a long time.

The start of the World Cup also seemed to take the organizers by surprise when it came to the part off the track. For example, catering and transport from the venues to the surrounding towns were only guaranteed from the first day of the competition – although media conferences with athletes or technical test runs were also on the program beforehand.

With the descents came the fans

After sobering results and narrowly missing out on medals in the men’s alpine combination and the two Super-Gs, the World Championships from a Swiss perspective only really got underway with the downhills – then really for that. With Jasmine Flury and Marco Odermatt, Switzerland provided both world champions and celebrated them appropriately in the “House of Switzerland”. Five days later, the man from Nidwalden doubled in the giant slalom in front of teammate Loïc Meillard, making him the only double world champion in 2023.

At the same time, the World Championships also really picked up speed off the track. While the OC drew the right lessons from the initial mistakes, public interest also increased significantly with the descents.

Even at the team event and the parallel races, the grandstands were now well filled and the French fans proved that they can be enthusiastic about skiing; the numerous fan clubs from abroad, who came in increasing numbers, helped to create a good atmosphere. In the end, a total of 120,000 fans attended the race.

The sun as a constant companion

The sun and the blue sky will also be remembered from the two weeks in the French Alps, as the organizers had literally leased the weather luck. Because the sun was shining every day, but at the same time the temperatures remained low in the first week, perfect conditions prevailed from AZ.

Not a single adjustment had to be made to the World Cup schedule. A rarity in title fights in recent years. Otherwise, the organizers would have experienced more chaotic days. Because the World Cup was held at 2 locations with Courchevel and Méribel – and many volunteers, journalists and fans came from abroad every day because of the lack of beds – the logistics remained a major challenge right up to the end.

Sometimes the buses ran at the announced time, other times they didn’t. Stops were handled flexibly and sometimes generously moved to another location. Finding the right bus became a real challenge. However, everyone found their destination. The skiers on the track, the others next to them.