GREEN LIGHT FOR CROSS-COUNTRY WORLD CUPS IN GOMS

Now it's official: the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has just approved the race calendar for the Cross-Country World Cup next season. According to this, Goms will even receive more competition days than initially planned.

Goms will be the Swiss venue for the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup. This was finally decided by the FIS Council at its meeting yesterday. The good news for Goms: Two World Cup days will become three, which means that the international elite will compete in a total of five competitions between 26 and 28 January 2024 on the trails of the Nordic Centre.

In addition to Saturday and Sunday, Friday is also new on the calendar: on this day, a mixed relay will be held, in which two women and two men from each country will form a team and complete five kilometres each, alternating between the classic and free technique. On Saturday there will be the sprint competition in free technique, followed on Sunday by the mass start over 20 kilometres, also in free style.

The reason that more competitions are now to be held in Goms is the FIS's idea of sustainability: in order to reduce the travel of the World Cup roster, they are trying to hold several competitions at one World Cup venue. "This is great news for us," says Chantal Carlen, OC President of the World Cup. "The organisation for the World Cup involves a lot of effort. The additional competition makes the work even more worthwhile, of course, and the spectators can also experience the world's elite for one more day." From a financial point of view, the third day of competition would be easy to manage.

A total of around 200 athletes are expected to take part in the competitions. They are organised by a local OC in cooperation with Swiss-Ski and with the support of the municipalities of Goms and Obergoms.