Beijing 2022 Olympics – “Three favorites have made one more run”: Anger among the downhillers after the canceled training – Eurosport FR

Cold anger among Olympic downhillers. The cancellation of the last downhill training this Saturday morning, due to the huge gusts of wind that fell on the Yanqing site, turned into a big controversy, the first of these Beijing 2022 Olympic Games. not the cancellation itself, but the lack of sporting fairness between the three skiers who set off to attack “The Rock” for a third time and the rest of the pack, eager to discover this new route the day before of the queen event of these Olympics.

“There are still three favorites who made one run more than the others, that’s the big problem. If they had canceled this morning, there would have been no problem“, summarized Johan Clarey, representative of the athletes at the International Ski Federation (FIS). The Frenchman has however done everything to ensure that the injustice is partly repaired. After talking to many of his peers, the veteran proposed to Markus Waldner, the head of the men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup and responsible for Olympic competitions in Beijing, to ski only on the top of the course at high speed, history of. But this proposal was politely declined by the German , straddling safety.

Meeting before the start, the competitors had agreed on an intermediate solution: “We were ready to ski hard where there was no risk, then to brake” on the very windy second section, before “re-engage on the last part“, explained the Frenchman Matthieu Bailet. “I tried to discuss with the FIS, but they didn’t want to know anything (…) There you go: we’ll have to deal with it and not get too upset“, continued Johan Clarey. After these long minutes of negotiations, the frustrated competitors were able to “slowly inspect the track one more time“. But at low speed only.”If it’s Wengen or Kitzbühel, we know. But here, everything is new, everything is so different. So each pass on the track allows you to adjust and find the right line“, completed the Swiss Marco Odermatt.

Public enemy No. 1 in Yanqing, Markus Waldner, spoke up to put out the ongoing fire. The men’s alpine ski boss blamed the weather for these unfortunate events. “Many wanted us to continue training, but, unfortunately, it was far too dangerous. This wind was not present five minutes before we launched. We had been there for two hours when we decided to launch and it was calm. The wind suddenly appeared on the central part of the route and also at the top. It was dangerous“, he explained to Eurosport.

The World Cup chief has been clear. Maximum security and nothing else. “If all this had happened five minutes before, we would not have started training. This decision was also made taking into account the weather forecast. Safety is our priority“When the debate about the lack of fairness between the three athletes with three practice runs on the clock and the rest, it kicked into touch.”Unfair? This is a case of force majeure. Three skiers had an extra run, but everyone had two good ones. The race is tomorrow and they have to stay focused on it from now on. It’s an outdoor sport, our sport is never fair.”

Among the very angry athletes was Kjetil Jansrud. The Olympic Super-G champion in 2014 in Sochi squarely hit Waldner, responsible for a huge mess of non-information in his eyes. “It’s not good what they did. It was complete chaos with the lack of information“, explained the speed specialist to Eurosport Norway. “What remains is that Markus behaves like a little dictator who gives no information. In these conditions, it’s difficult to be on top or to know if we’re going to be..”

Radio silence at the race jury

The 36-year-old skier believes that the impact of this cancellation even goes beyond the pure sporting plan. There is also the mental part of the preparation that comes into play.”It was time for us to speak loud and clear. We are a sport that lives on the fringes where the wind and training can have an impact on results. It is also important from a psychological point of view for some before starting a race. We are a band that needs to have confidence in the system and that those in charge of it make good decisions. It may have been a good decision, but today we had a lot on our hearts.”

Among the main victims of this cancellation, there is obviously the French ski team, but also a certain Marco Odermatt. The leader of the general classification of the World Cup, candidate for a first Olympic medal thanks to his ultra-versatility, needed one more passage at high speed on the Olympic track. He too lamented the poor communication between the race jury, the FIS and the athletes.

“It’s not fair and the big problem is how the jury communicates. They made the decision at 11:15, or something like that. They didn’t even ask our opinion. After two or three exchanges, they cut the radio and no longer answered.”