Alpine combined at Kitzbuehel to be eliminated
It’s a long season on the FIS Alpine World Cup tour, and the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuehel demands more out of athletes than most tracks. For this reason, the Kitzbuehel Ski Club (KSC) is proposing the elimination of the alpine combined race of the series. For the 2016-17 season, the proposed program would include a super-G on Friday, the downhill on Saturday and a standalone slalom race on Sunday.
Historically, the alpine combined was the premiere event of the Hahnenkamm weekend, bringing together the excitement of a speed race with the challenge of a slalom. The winner of the alpine combined was declared the true Hahnenkamm winner. However, the years have diluted the combined race’s significance as the downhill race gained more prestige.
In recent years, the alpine combined was tested with a super-G run instead of downhill, but even that did not mitigate the risk of injuring the athletes.
“That with the super-G was a test,” Michael Huber of the KSC told the Austrian Press Agency. “But the (challenge) of four competitions over three days was just too high.”
The 76th Annual Hahnenkamm Races resulted in numerous crashes and injuries including a season-ending crash for Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal. The injury rate was a major factor leading to the future cancellation of the alpine combined. However, this is not the definitive end of alpine combined in Kitzbuehel indefinitely, but solely a proposal for the upcoming season.
FIS Race Director Markus Waldner encouraged KSC to perform an analysis and consult several racers. The voices were unified on the issue, and therefore, Huber expects the proposal to be adopted by FIS Congress in June.