Men's World Cup eyes new bib draw scenario

By Published On: May 28th, 2007Comments Off on Men's World Cup eyes new bib draw scenario

PORTOROZ, Slovenia — After three seasons of wrangling and growling, the FIS Council approved what amounts to a three-draw process for speed events involving the top 30 athletes in the World Cup points rankings.

PORTOROZ, Slovenia — After three seasons of wrangling and growling, men’s World Cup coaches finally prevailed and sent a new speed-event bib draw procedure for downhill, super G and super combined to the FIS Council for approval.
    After some tweaks were made, the Council approved what amounts to a three-draw process involving the top 30 athletes in the World Cup points rankings. The top 15 ranked athletes in an event will draw for start positions 16 through 22 (for those ranked 1 to 7) and 8 to 15 (for those ranked 8 to 15). The remaining athletes ranked from 16 to 30 will draw for start positions 1 to 7 and 23 to 30 in the order. In addition, 400-point athletes would be put into this pool as well.
    The traditional reverse-30 bib draw has come under pressure from two fronts. There was much dissatisfaction with the reverse-30 system by major nation coaches, particularly regarding super G. Perhaps more importantly, television ratings showed marked increased viewership after the first 15 competitors had left the start under the reverse-30 system.
    Veteran U.S. men’s head coach Phil McNichol was among the eight major nation coaches signing the recommendation to change the start-list procedure. He was joined by head coaches from Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Canada.
    While the new procedure is relatively simple, for the non-aficionado of speed racing, explanations will be difficult to explain. However, with television ratings not as strong as desired, the FIS was willing to go along with the coaches’ suggestions.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh