May 18, 2008 – The organizers of the 2012 FIS Ski Flying World Championships and the 2013 FIS Alpine, Nordic, Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships will be elected by the FIS Council on Thursday, May 29. The announcement of the elected organizers will take place at the Westin Grand in Cape Town (RSA) at approximately 19:00 CET. FIS is pleased to present below brief portraits of the five candidates for the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (in alphabetical order).

Falun (SWE)
2013 is likely to be remembered as the best ever in the history of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Sweden is one of the world’s best event managers – something we have demonstrated many times. Most recently with the success of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Ã…re in 2007.

The candidate venue for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 is situated in Falun, Sweden. We are modifying it and adding to it. The jumping hills, of course. But also a large media center. We are developing both the finishing lines and the spectator areas.

The arena is compactly designed, allowing spectators to stay in direct and continuous touch with what is happening, while providing ideal conditions for TV coverage. The event organizers, Falun and Sweden are determined to ensure that the world can participate, too. Sweden has for decades been considered one of Europe’s leading IT nations. We mean to confirm and demonstrate this in 2013.

We also enjoy a close association with the Swedish public service broadcaster – Sveriges Television (SVT) which has established a reputation as a leading light in the TV presentation of sporting events. We are well prepared. We are experienced. We are ready to go to work. The world, FIS and the sport of skiing need truly exceptional FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2013. For more information, visit www.falun2013.com

Lahti (FIN)
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti in 2013 would mean two weeks of winter sports excitement with high-quality organization in all aspects of the event.

All competitions are planned to take place at the Lahti Sports Center – a compact venue with all important areas and facilities. By 2013 the venue will see many significant improvements: a modernized normal hill, new courses and a service building for cross-country, extension of the exhibition center, a coaches’ tower, wind nets, improved stadium set-up and a new spectator area at Karpalo etc.

All changes are made to protect the environment. Building permanent facilities decreases the need for temporary construction during the championships. This means that not only the competition conditions are at a championship level but that athletes, media, sponsors, spectators and officials will be provided with brand new facilities that do not exist elsewhere. The TV-compound, MPC and IBC are all located inside the Great Hall. In Lahti there is the capacity to serve more than 7’500 VIP’s and Special Guests at the same time.

Moreover, the Athletes’ Village at the Sports Institute of Finland provides the teams with common accommodation in a compact and peaceful environment with practically endless possibilities for training, relaxation and recreation. A new fast railway connection to Lahti has brought the Helsinki metropolitan area only 48 minutes away from Lahti – just one of the reasons that underline the target of 375.000 spectators on site.

For more information, visit www.lahti2013.com.

Oberstdorf (GER)
A wonderful reunion in Oberstdorf in 2013! Oberstdorf is prepared to set another benchmark in the history of Nordic skiing with the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2013.

For more than 50 years, Oberstdorf has demonstrated its skill and competence as host of large sporting events at the highest international level through the organization of numerous World Cup events and FIS World Championships . Both the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1987 and 2005 were unforgettable moments in the annals of the Nordic ski sports. It comes therefore as no surprise that, in 1987, Marc Hodler called Oberstdorf ‘Holmenkollen of the Alps’ whilst Gian Franco Kasper named it the ‘Mecca of Nordic skiing’ in 2005.

With its modern stadium facilities in the midst of a wonderful mountain landscape in front of the ‘Allgäuer Hochalpen’, Oberstdorf offers a breath-taking atmosphere and setting.

A total of 750‘000 spectators participated in a Nordic ski festival without frontiers in Oberstdorf in 1987 and 2005! This is the tradition that Oberstdorf 2013 has set out to continue while breaking records against its unique scenery. Oberstdorf is ready to experience another celebration of Nordic skiing together with all the athletes, officials and large numbers of spectators in 2013.

For more information, visit here.

Val di Fiemme (ITA)
After the successful experience of 1991 and 2003, Val di Fiemme presents its candidacy to organize the World Championships for the third time. The 1991 World Championships can be considered a real milestone, as the event was organized south of the Alps for the first time in the history of Nordic skiing. It was an unforgettable debut, followed by another world experience for Val di Fiemme in 2003. The 2003 championship was a “sunny” event from every point of view, as FIS President Gian Franco Kasper stated during the FIS Congress in Miami in 2004 when the “final report” on Fiemme 2003 was presented. “There were no clouds in Val di Fiemme from 18th February 18th to 1st March, neither in the sky nor on the organization”.

On the basis of those words and the successful event, Val di Fiemme is now looking for another new prestigious appointment, betting on its organizational skills, a team of qualified volunteers and the famous hospitality tradition of the valley and of the Trentino region as a whole. Val di Fiemme is the Italian cross-country skiing capital and a world renowned tourist destination in the heart of the Dolomites. The cross-country skiing centre at Lago di Tesero and the ski jumping stadium in Predazzo are the main “monuments” of a valley that has had and continues to have great skiing talents such as Franco Nones, Giorgio Vanzetta and Cristian Zorzi.

For more information, visit www.fiemme2013.com

Zakopane (POL)
The first FIS World Ski Championships took place in Zakopane in 1929, followed by 1939 and 1962. We have been waiting for the opportunity to host another championships for over fifty years now. In the meantime, Zakopane has proved that it is capable of organizing even the most prestigious sporting events, such as the FIS World Cup in Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, and the FIS Junior World Championships.

Zakopane has a special location on the map of Europe. It is here that the devotees of winter sports from the European Union member states meet with the ones from the countries only striving for its membership. It is us who open Europe to the east; it is us who say that there are no border lines for people joined by common passion and dreams! In Zakopane, one frequently hears English, German, Russian and Ukrainian spoken on the ski slopes and in cafés.

We believe that granting the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2013 to Zakopane will be the crowning achievement of the efforts for a common Europe. The road from Zakopane will lead further, straight to Sochi, to the Olympic Winter Games in 2014. Should the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2013 take place in Zakopane? We have no doubt they should. Zakopane is the city of athletes and people fascinated with sport where each child skis and many families boast beautiful competitors’ traditions.

Poland has been a member of the European Union for four years. It is a continuously developing country, modern and friendly. Such is also Zakopane. Our city is situated in one of the wealthiest and fastest developing regions of Poland. Whatever winter sports enthusiasts associate with Chamonix, Aspen or Val di Fiemme, they will also find in Zakopane. Modern ski infrastructure, immaculately clean snow from November to May and many sunny days a year are a guarantee of successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane in 2013. Come and see for yourselves. You’re invited!

For more information click here.