November 12, 2014 – FIS Newsflash interviewed FIS Nordic Combined Race Director Lasse Ottesen about the upcoming World Championships, his vision for the discipline and the development of ladies’ Nordic Combined as the 2014/15 World Cup season soon gets underway.

Lasse Ottesen ©FIS

The season will begin in four weeks-time in Ruka (FIN). What’s new this winter?
Lasse Ottesen: During the various inspections this summer, I felt that the motivation and spirit of all our Organising Committees is very high and I am sure that we will experience another great winter season with many exciting, thrilling competitions including the Triple and the World Championships.

New in Nordic Combined this season is that there isn’t any big new for the first time in several seasons 🙂 The main focus for the coming season has been to develop the current formats, stabilise the rules and regulations and develop the TV product. In order to present the athletes better before the competitions and to build up our stars, we will be introducing the so-called ‘Walk in Tunnel’. In addition, a few upgrades in the TV graphics will hopefully give the viewers more and better information during the events.

You introduced your vision ‘Nordic Combined 2.0’ at the FIS Technical Committee Meetings in early October. Can you tell us a bit more?
LO: The vision 1.0 started three years ago with the following points: 1) Stabilise the rules and formats, 2) Upgrade the TV production, 3) Raise the TV numbers, 4) Create stars. These points will of course stay in the vision and be a central part of the future development of Nordic Combined.

Vision 2.0 has the additional points: 1) From sport to event, 2) Upgrade venues, 3) Improve the general flow on-site.

We feel that the main topics in Vision 1.0 are well underway and therefore we wanted to take the next step in the development of Nordic Combined. In close cooperation with the National Ski Associations and the Organising Committees we hope that we will be able to further develop the discipline in the next 2-3 years.

How is the planning for ladies’ Nordic Combined going?
LO: The FIS Youth Cup this summer showed an impressive starting field with nine nations and 40 girls. Considering the size of the field and the level of performance, we hope to be able to host the first ever FIS Youth Cup this coming season.

After that, we will carry out the FIS Youth Cup next summer (2015) and we aim for 2-3 weekends of international events in the 2015/16 winter. The long-term goal is to have the ladies on the Junior World Championship programme within the next 5-6 years but this also depends on the development of participating nations, the number of athletes and of course their performance level.

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships will be hosted in Falun (SWE) this season. From your point of view, who will be fighting for the title?
LO: Going into a new World Championship season like this year, it is always difficult to predict any results. Last season, Germany was the nation to beat but we also saw Norway, France, Japan, the USA and Austria on the podium in the last World Championships. This summer the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia all delivered good results from young up and coming athletes. I am sure we will see fair and exciting competitions in Falun with a great fight for the medals all the way to the finish line.