October 09, 2013 (Zurich, SUI) – With just three weeks before the start of the 2013/14 season, the FIS Technical Committee Meetings were held in Zurich (SUI) as is traditional. Between 1st-5th October 2013, the FIS family gathered in Zurich to attend numerous meetings and finalise the preparations for the upcoming season and look further ahead to future projects.

Cross-Country decisions in Zurich

On the cross-country side, a number of Sub-Committees met to discuss various topics. The Sub-Committee for the World and Continental Cups focused on future calendars with a particular emphasis on principles and basics for each World Cup period. “We want to plan ahead of time as we have several opportunities in the future. The Canadian Tour in 2016 and the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang (KOR) in 2018 will have an impact on the World Cup calendars. Together with all the stakeholders, we want to make sure that we will have best World Cup schedules possible,” said FIS Cross-Country Race Director Pierre Mignerey.

One important issue was tackled in the Sub-Committee for Rules and Control. An important goal is to recruit, educate and develop good Technical Delegates (TDs) to guarantee safe and fair Cross-Country competitions at all levels. The education process has also been unified for the Popular and Roller Ski TDs. TD candidates should be active all year round and must accept at least two assignments. Education plays a key role and all TDs are requested to actively participate in the respective seminars. In order to increase the number of former professional skiers working as TDs, the Sub-Committee introduced a process for reducing the qualification time for such candidates in exceptional cases, on application by the National Ski Associations.

The new Chair of the Sub-Committee Ladies, Italian Olympic Champion Gabriella Paruzzi is planning many initiatives including studying the issue of pregnancy of top athletes and its influence on their sporting careers. Another project is focusing on female coaches of top athletes, about which a special seminar will be held next summer. Finally, the Sub-Committee aims to encourage former top female athletes to join the TD education process.

The complete World Cup rules, as well as the Tour de Ski and multi-stage competition rules will be uploaded here shortly.