FIS – FasterSkier.com

Higher Elevations, More Skiathlons—World Cup Schedule and Rule Changes Announced

Ken RothMay 15, 2024

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Last week, the International Ski Federation (FIS) held its annual spring meeting. Among the topics were finalizing next year’s calendar and fine tuning of some of the sport’s rules. All actions taken...

Feature News World Cup

FIS: “Equal distances has taken another step”

John TeafordJune 22, 2023

In a recent Instagram post (June 21, 2023), the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced that permanent changes have been made to the “equality” in race distances for men and women in both FIS sanctioned races and those races set to be staged at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in 2026. The post included the following wording: BIG NEWS: Equal distances has taken another step, a step that involves the Olympics in Milano Cortina 2026!🙌🏼 The...

Feature News US Ski Team World Cup

Catching Up With Julia Kern—U.S. Ski Team Member and FIS Athlete Delegate

Ken RothMay 30, 2023

This week, FasterSkier caught up with U.S. cross-country team member Julia Kern. It turns out catching up with Julia isn’t just hard on the racecourse, but it’s pretty darn challenging in life. No one would begrudge any team member a much needed travel respite after a draining World Cup season. But Julia appears to thrive on movement—she seems to be a living example of Newton’s First Law of Motion— a body in motion will remain...

News World Cup

Update on FIS Russia Ban

Ken RothMay 26, 2023

In a tersely worded announcement, the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced that its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes would continue. The entirety of the release was contained in the summary notes of decisions made at the FIS Council meeting held May 24th. The current FIS policy, which does not allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in FIS events, will remain in effect until further notice. ...

Community Feature IPC News

FIS is taking over governance of Para Nordic skiing, what does it mean for the sport’s development in the United States?

Ben TheyerlSeptember 4, 2022

The International Ski Federation’s (FIS) annual Congress held at the end of May this year was an unusually dramatic affair. Fights over media rights – whether to look at serializing the sport of Nordic skiing into something like Formula 1’s Drive to Survive – sent skiing’s international governing body into a metaphorically different part of the Netflix catalog, less Dive to Survive and more House of Cards, West Wing, or Newsroom. If only Aaron Sorkin...

News Racing World Cup

(News Brief) FIS Delays Fluoro Ban Implementation Again

Ben TheyerlAugust 11, 2022

The International Ski Federation (FIS) is again postponing its ban on the use of fluorinated (fluoro) waxes, originally passed in November 2019. The decision to delay the ban’s implementation until after the 2022-23 season was announced in a press release earlier today. The FIS cites the need for “further refinement of the fluoro testing device and to define procedures to protect the integrity of FIS competitions.” The same concerns over an efficient and effective testing...

Feature Racing World Cup

Switching to Equal Distance and the “Trickle Down” Effect

Ella HallJuly 25, 2022

In most sports, the question of whether men and women would compete on equal playing fields, so to speak, was answered long ago. While gender inequalities remain- a recent decision by the IOC to maintain the exclusion of Women’s Nordic Combined from the Olympics comes to mind- the sport of cross-country skiing will now be joining the list of those in which competition is equal for men and women. In a press release issued on...

Community Feature General News World Cup

Alpine Nations Contest FIS Election in CAS in Ongoing Power Struggle

Pasha KahnJune 28, 2022

On Monday, June 20th, the Ski Associations of Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Croatia made good on threats issued after the FIS Congress in May, and filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) contesting the voting procedure that elected the unchallenged FIS President Johan Eliasch. The four nations argue that it was unlawful to deny them the option of voting no to Eliasch, and that the election procedure violated FIS statutes and...

Community Feature Interviews News

U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Dexter Paine and FIS President Eliasch Weigh In on Controversial Ski Congress

Pasha KahnJune 20, 2022

Elections at FIS Congresses are normally not the scene of political intrigues, particularly when there is only one candidate for President. Yet, in a surprise twist, a bloc of powerful ski nations walked out on FIS President Johan Eliasch’s uncontested election and voted out Dexter Paine, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard representative, as well as a FIS Vice President and Councilor. Prior to the vote for President on May 26th in Milan, Italy, Croatia’s representative...

Feature News Racing World Cup

Cross-Country Skiing Mulls a Long Term Future Without Russia (Part 3)

Pasha KahnJune 3, 2022

Click here to read part 1 and part 2 of this series, which takes a look at international news surrounding the Russian athlete ban through the spring. For how these bans have impacted a broader cross-section of the sporting world and analysis of the complex questions surrounding whether Russian athletes should be able to compete, check out this recent Sports Illustrated article by Michael Rosenberg. Historically, athlete bans meant to pressure a government have not...

Feature News Racing World Cup

Cross-Country Skiing Mulls a Long Term Future Without Russia (Part 2)

Pasha KahnMay 28, 2022

Click here to read part 1 of this series, which takes a look at international news surrounding the Russian athlete ban through the spring. For how these bans have impacted a broader cross-section of the sporting world and analysis of the complex questions surrounding whether Russian athletes should be able to compete, check out this recent Sports Illustrated article by Michael Rosenberg. Concerns over both fair play and propaganda have been tied to the...

Multimedia Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Cross-Country Program Director Chris Grover on Looking Back and Planning Ahead

Rachel PerkinsMay 26, 2022

I think we can all agree that the last two years have been a wild ride. For those at the helm of the cross-country program at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, added layers of COVID safety precautions and expensive testing have increased the otherwise mounting demands of preparing for an Olympic Games. There have been numerous domestic and international competitions canceled, including a full season of SuperTour racing in 2020/2021, numerous World Cups canceled, and three...

Feature News Racing World Cup

Cross-Country Skiing Mulls a Long Term Future Without Russia (Part 1)

Pasha KahnMay 24, 2022

With Russian athletes banned from all FIS competitions, and no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, there is a growing belief that Russian skiers are unlikely to rejoin the World Cup next season. Some commentators have gone further, proclaiming that we have seen the last of Bolshunov, Neprayeva, and the rest of the Russian team on the international stage. The pessimism is rooted in the history of similar bans—which tend to be long...

Multimedia Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show: 2023 starts now. (Okay, three weeks ago.)

Devon KershawMay 23, 2022

You’ve been waiting on pins and needles for the first episode of this season’s Devon Kershaw Show; we know. But it’s been a busy spring. This edition was recorded a couple of weeks ago, so apologies we’re not up to speed on all the latest developments, but we break down some retirements and other off-season news and we’ll be back soon with some discussion of equal distance racing and other news. You can email us...

General News Racing World Cup

Updates from the 2022 FIS Cross-Country Committee Spring Meeting (Press Release)

FasterSkierMay 18, 2022

This press release originally appeared on fis-ski.com on Wednesday, March 18, 2022. May marks the month of the FIS Committee meetings, debriefing the season and setting up task and changes for the upcoming ones. All proposals that were elaborated by Sub-Committees and working groups members came on the table of the Cross-Country Committee (CCC) on Wednesday, 18th May. The Committee discussed them and forwarded the confirmed proposals on to the highest authority in FIS, the...

News Racing World Cup

Update: Falun, SWE to absorb World Cup Finals Mar 11 – 13th

Rachel PerkinsMarch 4, 2022

After officially canceling the World Cup Finals scheduled for Tyumen, Russia on February 25th the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced in a brief press release today (see below) that no replacement venue has been found, and thus the upcoming three-day race weekend in Falun, Sweden will instead absorb the event, ending the season one week prematurely. No schedule changes have been made to the event in Falun, leaving a classic sprint, a 10/15-kilometer skate, and...

Racing World Cup

With eroding control, FIS bans Russia and Belarus in belated reaction to threatened protest-cancellation of World Cup events in Norway and Sweden

Pasha KahnMarch 1, 2022

Today the International Ski Federation (FIS) banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from taking part in any remaining FIS competitions. The press release stated, “The FIS Council decided unanimously in line with the IOC recommendation, that with immediate effect, no Russian or Belarusian athlete shall participate in any FIS competition at any level through the end of the 2021-2022 season.” The belated decision came after a power struggle between the Norwegian Ski Association...

Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show: The World Cup is back — so is the show

Devon KershawFebruary 28, 2022

Has it really been a week since the Olympics already? The World Cup’s furious schedule forges on with more racing this weekend in Lahti, Finland. Special guest host, Finnish Olympic gold medalist Sami Jauhojaervi, joins us to break down those results and other Finnish highlights from this season. We also cover results from the World Junior Championships in the early part of the podcast, and finish with a brief discussion of how cross-country skiing is...

News Other News Racing World Cup

Russian athletes expected to compete in Norway despite Norwegian Ski Association message that they are not welcome

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 28, 2022

On February 26th, the Norwegian Ski Association (NSA) released a statement indicating that in light of the nation’s recent invasion of the Ukraine, Russian participation was not welcome at the upcoming World Cup sprint races in Dramman or the storied Holmenkollen distance races outside of Oslo. In addition to these cross country events, Norway is scheduled to host competitions in alpine, nordic combined, and ski jumping, including the World Ski Flying Championships in Vikersund. A...

News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Update: FIS Cancels All Remaining 2021-22 Season Events in Russia Including XC World Cup Finals in Tyumen

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 25, 2022

Yesterday, FasterSkier reported that the U.S. Ski Team would not be attending the World Cup finals scheduled for March 18 – 20 in Tyumen, Russia, given the nation’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. At that time, the International Ski Federation (FIS) had not announced whether events scheduled for the remainder of the season in Russia would be held as planned, however, a FIS official had indicated on February 15th that the situation in Russia was...

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