The ITF is planning a major overhaul of the Davis Cup with the backing of the investment group Kosmos, founded by the soccer star Gerard Piqué. In a 25-year, $3 billion partnership with Kosmos, the Davis Cup World Group would abandon its current format in favor of a seven-day season-ending World Cup of Tennis event, played at a neutral venue with 18 teams. The zone group competition would continue with the current format of home and away ties.
Home and away ties have been the identity of the Davis Cup. The home crowds have created a unique atmosphere for the Davis Cup ties, and those ties have been an opportunity for fans in countries without big tournaments to see their favorites playing important matches against some of the best players in the world.
However, the Davis Cup has been lacking the participation of the big names of the game. Despite the great heritage of the tournament, it has not been among the top priorities of the players. Surface changes, distant locations, scheduling issues, and lack of capable teammates have led to infrequent participation by top players and some former champions. Though rising stars of the game, like Nick Kyrgios and David Goffin, have shown commitment to the Davis Cup as they are still to win the title.
Better scheduling, reinstating ranking points, and even introducing individual prize money could have been solutions to make the Davis Cup more attractive to players without changing the format. Though scheduling and awarding points is up to another organization, the ATP, while a modest prize money might not be enough to attract the biggest stars of the game.
A switch to a single-week, neutral-venue format might help to attract the big names joining their national teams for the event, although the week after the Nitto ATP Finals creates scheduling difficulties. Another thing is if the World Cup of Tennis made the Davis Cup a better event.
If the World Cup format led to a frequent participation of the big names, it could boost the TV ratings. As big as the Davis Cup ties can be in the participating countries, the casual fans around the world want to see the biggest stars of the game.
However, even the greatest participation of star players wouldn't necessarily guarantee seeing them in the final. A France-Belgium final at a neutral venue would hardly interest the casual fans outside those countries any more than last year's final did, except that the neutral venue won't have the passionate fans of the local team.
If the atmosphere reminiscent of soccer matches has made the Davis Cup a unique event in the tennis schedule, you can't expect the same at a neutral venue. Singapore is believed to be the likely host for the first editions of the World Cup format tournaments. It is hard to see legions of fans arriving there from overseas when you can't even know if and when your favorite team is playing after the round robin. It will likely be your typical Asian tennis crowd for the event without the passion of the home crowd that you can expect with the current format.
You can't compare the proposed World Cup of Tennis with the FIFA World Cup. Yes, fans travel even to the other side of the world to cheer for their favorite soccer team. But the FIFA World Cup takes place only every four years, making each edition more special. And the World Cup is the biggest event in soccer, the Davis Cup isn't that in tennis, no matter what format it uses. And soccer is a team sport, tennis is primarily an individual sport.
It would be a pity to lose the current Davis Cup format which is something unique in tennis. I'm not convinced the single-week format would take the public interest in the Davis Cup to a greater level. If anything, the event would lose its best selling point, your national team playing on the home soil.
It's up to the ITF annual general meeting to accept or reject this proposal with a two-thirds majority needed for the overhaul of the Davis Cup. It would surely be hard to reject a 25-year, $3 billion investment into the sport, though André Stein, the president of the Belgian Tennis Federation, has already said he will vote against the proposal and he thinks a lot of the European federations will do the same.
For the sake of tradition and fans, I hope the World Cup proposal gets rejected and the Davis Cup retains its current format. Once the past decade's top players have retired, a new generation will take the attention. And their pursue of the Davis Cup can take the event to a greater level, regardless of the format.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Olympics don't mean everything in ski sports
The Olympics put athletes from less mainstream sports into limelight for two weeks. Sports like luge, skeleton, and bobsled, or the likes of shooting or fencing in the Summer Games, hardly get lots of worldwide exposure apart from their Olympic events which are broadcast on major channels around the world. Even sports like athletics and swimming are more or less niche sports outside the major events, and the likes of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps wouldn't be such huge stars without their Olympic success, and to a lesser extent their World Championship success.
Ski sports are highly popular in Central and Northern Europe with lots of media coverage even outside the Olympics and the Worlds. But outside their heartlands, the ski sports become mainstream only once in four years during the Winter Olympics. And in the eyes of those once-in-four-years fans, even the greatest career can be seen as mediocre if the success at the Olympics has eluded.
Olympic and World Championship success is a great way to determine athletes' greatness in sports like athletics and swimming. Those are sports where athletes set their goals in succeeding at the major events. I don't really like putting Olympic success way over World Championship success because an unfortunate injury may ruin your Olympic season and four years is a long period until your next chance at the Olympics. You may get fewer chances at the Olympics, though it still takes the same effort to win at the Worlds. Though winning gold medals at two consecutive Olympics probably makes you a bigger legend than gold medals from three consecutive world championships, although both achievements take the same time.
Ski sports are different from athletics or swimming. Regardless of the venue, the running track is 400 meters and the Olympic pool is 50 meters. In ski sports, every venue is different, favoring different athletes. Some alpine skiers do better on steep slopes, others on flat ones. In cross-country skiing a tough course allows the athletes with better endurance to break away from the field while easier courses allow the best sprinters to stay in the leading group throughout the race to win it in the last kilometer. And every ski jumper has hills that suit them better and hills that don't suit them that well.
Besides, the ski sports have highly important season-long circuits, the World Cup tours. In a season-long circuit you will face venues that suit you better and venues that don't suit you so well. The World Cup rewards those who can do well at most venues and have the consistency to perform at their best throughout the winter. You can see one-hit wonders winning Olympic gold medals, though you can't see them winning World Cup titles.
I am one who puts the World Cup titles above everything else in ski sports. If you're good on certain types of hills or courses, you can win multiple gold medals in your career but winning World Cup titles requires a more complete set of skills and season-long consistency. Four-time Olympic silver medalist and the 2003 World gold medalist in slalom, Ivica Kostelić, has said the lack of an Olympic gold medal doesn't matter that much because he's won the biggest prize in the sport, the World Cup overall title. Olympic and World Championship medals are awarded in single disciplines; the overall World Cup title requires success in multiple disciplines in the same season. Kostelić skipping his preferred disciplines slalom and combined at the 2011 Worlds after the super-G bronze medal in order to concentrate on winning the World Cup overall title further highlights the importance of the big crystal globe.
For sure the Olympic and World Championship medals aren't meaningless alongside the World Cup titles. Firstly, especially the Olympics are the most-viewed competitions in the sport. I bet most Americans know Ted Ligety as a two-time Olympic gold medalist rather than as a five-time World Cup giant slalom champion.
Secondly, the major championships are a different challenge compared to the World Cup tour. If you're dominating your sport, you don't need to bring out your best at every race to win World Cup titles. At the Olympics or Worlds, you can't win with mediocrity. Lara Gut is leading the super-G standings in the World Cup, yet 0.12 seconds separated her from the Olympic gold medal, eventually finishing fourth and missing the bronze medal by 0.01 seconds.
Seeing athletes with a big disparity between their World Cup and major championship achievements probably tells something about them. Peter Fill has only three wins on the World Cup tour, though he's won two titles in downhill and one in alpine combined. He doesn't finish in the front very often, though his consistency has won him World Cup titles. Though that's not how you succeed in major championships; Fill's medal record of one silver and one bronze in the Worlds is quite mediocre for one with three small crystal globes.
On the other hand, Mario Matt never won a crystal globe in the World Cup and finished only twice in the top three in the slalom standings, though his two World gold medals and one Olympic gold medal in the span of 13 years plus 15 race wins in the World Cup surely put him above some of the World Cup champions whose heyday lasted only a few years and who never broke into double digits in their victory count.
The Olympics and the Worlds don't present the greatest challenges in the sport to athletes. When the venues need to accommodate men's and women's races in different disciplines, not all major championship slopes can be among the most challenging ones in the sport. The challenge to the athletes isn't even that high on the list of priorities when commercial interests play a big role when selecting the host venue. The Olympics may have the most important single races for the athletes but the Jeongseon downhill course doesn't reflect that, being among the easiest in top-level ski racing.
I am one of those who put winning the Hahnenkamm downhill at least on the level of an Olympic or World gold medal if not even above. That race is the biggest challenge in alpine skiing. A major gold medal doesn't prove you as a skier the way winning on the Streif does. A flawless and fast run on an easy course can win you a gold medal but you may be struggling with the challenges the most challenging courses present. And Hahnenkamm matters to skiers; that's where every downhill skier wants to win.
Didier Cuche won four World Cup titles in downhill plus one in super-G and one in giant slalom between 2007 and 2011. Still his medal record isn't that exceptional; one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in the Worlds and an Olympic silver medal dating back to 1998. However his four wins on the Streif between 2008 and 2012 show why he was the best downhill skier of that era. You could beat him on easier courses, like Wengen where he never won, though he dominated the most challenging courses.
It's difficult, or rather impossible, to put achievements in any absolute order. I'm one who puts World Cup titles above gold medals, though you need to look at the bigger picture. Sports are about winning; achieving World Cup titles purely with consistency and never succeeding big time at major championships isn't that impressive while a great medal record can make up the lack of crystal globes. Elisabeth Görgl never won a World Cup title, though has a solid medal record from 2009 to 2011 and her double gold medal at the 2011 Worlds shows that success wasn't a fluke. That puts her above some of the weaker World Cup champions in my eyes.
I truly admire Marc Girardelli's career. Five overall titles in the World Cup, two discipline titles in downhill, one in giant slalom, three in slalom, three times the runner-up in super-G, and four times topping the combined standings. That's accompanied by 11 World Championship medals from all five disciplines, including three gold medals in combined and one in slalom plus he's one of the rare skiers to win the downhills in Kitzbühel and Wengen the same season, winning actually two downhill races in Wengen in 1989. But he never won the gold medal at the Olympics, achieving only the silver medals in super-G and giant slalom in 1992. However, the lack of Olympic gold doesn't affect to my impression of his career. The sport is about more than two weeks every four years.
It's the same in other ski sports too. Janne Ahonen is a two-time World Cup overall champion in ski jumping and the five Four Hills titles stand out the most from his resume. In addition to that his medal record features two individual World gold medals, though he's never won at the Olympics or even achieved an individual medal. Still, his achievements show he can deliver under pressure. If anything, the Four Hills titles have required the same abilities than any major gold medal but also consistency. One single bad day can ruin your Four Hills campaign, at the Olympics or Worlds there's still another competition. However needing to have consistency for one week prevents the kind of flukish wins you can see at the Olympics or Worlds. Yes, even Thomas Diethart wasn't a fluke but the best ski jumper in the world for one week.
There's been criticism over Kaisa Mäkäräinen's performance in biathlon in PyeongChang where she failed once again to win an Olympic medal. Some of the criticism is justified. The best result of a 10th place isn't really what you'd expect from the World Cup leader. But never winning an Olympic medal isn't really such a big failure in the big picture of her career. She's won two World Cup overall titles, five discipline titles, a World gold medal, and a total of six medals at the Worlds. If I had to point out a failure from her resume, it's winning only one major gold medal despite all her World Cup success. An Olympic gold medal would have fixed that, a silver or bronze medal wouldn't have. But who am I to blame one of the top biathletes of this decade?
Ski sports are highly popular in Central and Northern Europe with lots of media coverage even outside the Olympics and the Worlds. But outside their heartlands, the ski sports become mainstream only once in four years during the Winter Olympics. And in the eyes of those once-in-four-years fans, even the greatest career can be seen as mediocre if the success at the Olympics has eluded.
Olympic and World Championship success is a great way to determine athletes' greatness in sports like athletics and swimming. Those are sports where athletes set their goals in succeeding at the major events. I don't really like putting Olympic success way over World Championship success because an unfortunate injury may ruin your Olympic season and four years is a long period until your next chance at the Olympics. You may get fewer chances at the Olympics, though it still takes the same effort to win at the Worlds. Though winning gold medals at two consecutive Olympics probably makes you a bigger legend than gold medals from three consecutive world championships, although both achievements take the same time.
Ski sports are different from athletics or swimming. Regardless of the venue, the running track is 400 meters and the Olympic pool is 50 meters. In ski sports, every venue is different, favoring different athletes. Some alpine skiers do better on steep slopes, others on flat ones. In cross-country skiing a tough course allows the athletes with better endurance to break away from the field while easier courses allow the best sprinters to stay in the leading group throughout the race to win it in the last kilometer. And every ski jumper has hills that suit them better and hills that don't suit them that well.
Besides, the ski sports have highly important season-long circuits, the World Cup tours. In a season-long circuit you will face venues that suit you better and venues that don't suit you so well. The World Cup rewards those who can do well at most venues and have the consistency to perform at their best throughout the winter. You can see one-hit wonders winning Olympic gold medals, though you can't see them winning World Cup titles.
I am one who puts the World Cup titles above everything else in ski sports. If you're good on certain types of hills or courses, you can win multiple gold medals in your career but winning World Cup titles requires a more complete set of skills and season-long consistency. Four-time Olympic silver medalist and the 2003 World gold medalist in slalom, Ivica Kostelić, has said the lack of an Olympic gold medal doesn't matter that much because he's won the biggest prize in the sport, the World Cup overall title. Olympic and World Championship medals are awarded in single disciplines; the overall World Cup title requires success in multiple disciplines in the same season. Kostelić skipping his preferred disciplines slalom and combined at the 2011 Worlds after the super-G bronze medal in order to concentrate on winning the World Cup overall title further highlights the importance of the big crystal globe.
For sure the Olympic and World Championship medals aren't meaningless alongside the World Cup titles. Firstly, especially the Olympics are the most-viewed competitions in the sport. I bet most Americans know Ted Ligety as a two-time Olympic gold medalist rather than as a five-time World Cup giant slalom champion.
Secondly, the major championships are a different challenge compared to the World Cup tour. If you're dominating your sport, you don't need to bring out your best at every race to win World Cup titles. At the Olympics or Worlds, you can't win with mediocrity. Lara Gut is leading the super-G standings in the World Cup, yet 0.12 seconds separated her from the Olympic gold medal, eventually finishing fourth and missing the bronze medal by 0.01 seconds.
Seeing athletes with a big disparity between their World Cup and major championship achievements probably tells something about them. Peter Fill has only three wins on the World Cup tour, though he's won two titles in downhill and one in alpine combined. He doesn't finish in the front very often, though his consistency has won him World Cup titles. Though that's not how you succeed in major championships; Fill's medal record of one silver and one bronze in the Worlds is quite mediocre for one with three small crystal globes.
On the other hand, Mario Matt never won a crystal globe in the World Cup and finished only twice in the top three in the slalom standings, though his two World gold medals and one Olympic gold medal in the span of 13 years plus 15 race wins in the World Cup surely put him above some of the World Cup champions whose heyday lasted only a few years and who never broke into double digits in their victory count.
The Olympics and the Worlds don't present the greatest challenges in the sport to athletes. When the venues need to accommodate men's and women's races in different disciplines, not all major championship slopes can be among the most challenging ones in the sport. The challenge to the athletes isn't even that high on the list of priorities when commercial interests play a big role when selecting the host venue. The Olympics may have the most important single races for the athletes but the Jeongseon downhill course doesn't reflect that, being among the easiest in top-level ski racing.
I am one of those who put winning the Hahnenkamm downhill at least on the level of an Olympic or World gold medal if not even above. That race is the biggest challenge in alpine skiing. A major gold medal doesn't prove you as a skier the way winning on the Streif does. A flawless and fast run on an easy course can win you a gold medal but you may be struggling with the challenges the most challenging courses present. And Hahnenkamm matters to skiers; that's where every downhill skier wants to win.
Didier Cuche won four World Cup titles in downhill plus one in super-G and one in giant slalom between 2007 and 2011. Still his medal record isn't that exceptional; one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in the Worlds and an Olympic silver medal dating back to 1998. However his four wins on the Streif between 2008 and 2012 show why he was the best downhill skier of that era. You could beat him on easier courses, like Wengen where he never won, though he dominated the most challenging courses.
It's difficult, or rather impossible, to put achievements in any absolute order. I'm one who puts World Cup titles above gold medals, though you need to look at the bigger picture. Sports are about winning; achieving World Cup titles purely with consistency and never succeeding big time at major championships isn't that impressive while a great medal record can make up the lack of crystal globes. Elisabeth Görgl never won a World Cup title, though has a solid medal record from 2009 to 2011 and her double gold medal at the 2011 Worlds shows that success wasn't a fluke. That puts her above some of the weaker World Cup champions in my eyes.
I truly admire Marc Girardelli's career. Five overall titles in the World Cup, two discipline titles in downhill, one in giant slalom, three in slalom, three times the runner-up in super-G, and four times topping the combined standings. That's accompanied by 11 World Championship medals from all five disciplines, including three gold medals in combined and one in slalom plus he's one of the rare skiers to win the downhills in Kitzbühel and Wengen the same season, winning actually two downhill races in Wengen in 1989. But he never won the gold medal at the Olympics, achieving only the silver medals in super-G and giant slalom in 1992. However, the lack of Olympic gold doesn't affect to my impression of his career. The sport is about more than two weeks every four years.
It's the same in other ski sports too. Janne Ahonen is a two-time World Cup overall champion in ski jumping and the five Four Hills titles stand out the most from his resume. In addition to that his medal record features two individual World gold medals, though he's never won at the Olympics or even achieved an individual medal. Still, his achievements show he can deliver under pressure. If anything, the Four Hills titles have required the same abilities than any major gold medal but also consistency. One single bad day can ruin your Four Hills campaign, at the Olympics or Worlds there's still another competition. However needing to have consistency for one week prevents the kind of flukish wins you can see at the Olympics or Worlds. Yes, even Thomas Diethart wasn't a fluke but the best ski jumper in the world for one week.
There's been criticism over Kaisa Mäkäräinen's performance in biathlon in PyeongChang where she failed once again to win an Olympic medal. Some of the criticism is justified. The best result of a 10th place isn't really what you'd expect from the World Cup leader. But never winning an Olympic medal isn't really such a big failure in the big picture of her career. She's won two World Cup overall titles, five discipline titles, a World gold medal, and a total of six medals at the Worlds. If I had to point out a failure from her resume, it's winning only one major gold medal despite all her World Cup success. An Olympic gold medal would have fixed that, a silver or bronze medal wouldn't have. But who am I to blame one of the top biathletes of this decade?
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
FIS let the speed specialists down in combined. Once again
Men's alpine combined finally started the alpine skiing events at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Although it was a close fight between Marcel Hirscher and Alexis Pinturault for the win with the six-time World Cup overall champion Hirscher claiming his first Olympic gold medal by 0.23 seconds, the race was a controversial one with the shortened downhill preventing the speed specialists building enough gap for the slalom leg to race for the victory.
The heavy wind had obviously made it necessary to lower the downhill start and use a racing line bypassing the biggest jumps of the course. The Jeongseon downhill course is already a short one with a run of one minute, 40 seconds; using the super-G start shortened it by further 20 seconds and bypassing the big jumps made it easier for less routined downhill skiers. Yet this is where the logic of the International Ski Federation fails, and this was not the first time. Despite the shortened downhill, the slalom leg was on a full course. This very much handed the medals to slalom specialists. The top six of the race were also the six fastest men on the slalom course.
I'm not sure the top two would've been any different with a full downhill course. Alexis Pinturault was 1.04 seconds and Marcel Hirscher 1.32 seconds behind Thomas Dreßen, the leader after the downhill leg. With downhill specialists losing over three seconds in the slalom leg, they might not have been able to build enough lead even on the full downhill course. Of course, it appeared the wind conditions were affecting the downhill with those starting among the first 10, like Dreßen, Hirscher, and Pinturault, being favored by their starting position.
However, the shortened downhill may still have decided the victory. While Pinturault is better in slalom than downhill, he can finish the downhill leg even on a full course close enough the leaders to overtake them in the slalom. His strength against Hirscher is the downhill. On a full course, he might have been able to build enough gap to Hirscher to stay ahead in the slalom leg.
This was not the first farcical alpine combined at major championships. Last two men's combined races at the World Championships have been won by the 30th skiers of the downhill leg who were able to benefit greatly from being the first skiers on the slalom leg in warm conditions with the course deteriorating rapidly. The Olympic combined could have been different with the slalom course holding up well in the cold Korean weather. A pity it was ruined by a shortened downhill.
I'm not the first to cry about unfair conditions. It's unfortunate for the fans who have come to watch a race to see it canceled. If this had been a regular World Cup race, I'd have been fine with it; do whatever you need to get the race safely carried out. But when it's the highlight of the year, or four years in the case of the Olympics, the athletes deserve a fair race.
I don't think the downhill leg should have taken place as scheduled with the wind affecting the results. They could have started with the slalom leg as scheduled and have the downhill leg another day like has happened before in similar situations. That would actually have been even fairer as the slalom specialists barely making the top 30 in the downhill, like the bronze medalist Victor Muffat-Jeandet, wouldn't get such a big advantage from their starting position. And even if starting with a shortened downhill was the right decision, the slalom leg should have been shortened respectively.
The FIS clearly has a strange view about what is a fair race. The combined format has some major flaws, yet the FIS has done nothing to fix those issues. At least there won't be many farces like this remaining as the alpine combined will likely be gone by the 2021 World Championships. Though it's a pity because it could be a great event. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of examples of how the FIS fails to provide a level playing field for the speed specialists against the technicians.
The men's World Cup has been dominated by technical specialists this decade. After the speed specialist Carlo Janka won the 2010 overall title, technical specialists have claimed the big crystal globe with Ivica Kostelić winning in 2011 and Marcel Hirscher every season since 2012.
The World Cup schedule has more races in technical disciplines than in speed ones. That's nothing new, although the introduction of parallel races has added to the number of technical races. Yet what is different is the evolution of giant slalom. Speed specialists used to have success also in giant slalom, boosting their overall title campaigns. Benjamin Raich in 2006 was the only speed specialist winning the overall title in the 00s. Yet ever since the the GS equipment changed from the 28-meter radius skis to longer 35-meter radius skis in the 2012-13 season, speed specialists have been struggling in that discipline, hurting their overall title chances.
The radius of GS skis was shortened to 30 meters starting from this season. Although the equipment is now closer to the old skis, it seems like the speed specialists are still no longer able to succeed in giant slalom. That is very harmful for their chances for the big crystal globe as meanwhile there are technical specialists like Hirscher or Pinturault who can even win in super-G on some of the more technical courses. When you see a World Cup champion like Aksel Lund Svindal and another Olympic medalist Kjetil Jansrud struggling to make the second round in giant slalom, you know the discipline is different than what it was in their heyday in giant slalom.
With speed specialists no longer succeeding in giant slalom, the only way to give them an equal chance to race for the overall title would seem to be adding speed races into the schedule. An equal number of races in each discipline should be the priority of scheduling, or at least an equal number between speed and technical disciplines. It can't be so difficult. At least the long-term calendar for the 2020-21 season seems better in that regard for men, although the parallel races still skew the schedule in favor of technical specialists.
It's not only the scheduling but also the replacement policy. Last season one of the scheduled men's downhill races ended up being permanently canceled. The schedule should leave enough space for replacement dates because every canceled race is one less scoring opportunity for the specialists in that discipline. And with the speed disciplines more prone to weather-related cancellations, that's yet another factor against speed specialists overall title hopes.
What's even worse is the replacement policy at the World Cup Finals, leading to some farcical season finales. In 2013 the speed races had to be canceled at the Finals in Lenzerheide, denying Aksel Lund Svindal his last opportunity to challenge Marcel Hirscher for the overall title while securing the downhill title without having to race for it. In 2011, also in Lenzerheide, Maria Riesch (now Höfl-Riesch) celebrated her only World Cup overall title by three points over Lindsey Vonn after the season-ending giant slalom was canceled, a discipline where Vonn had the advantage over Riesch.
In both cases, and many others, the final races were not rescheduled because the FIS rules don't allow it. I get it, the TV channels want the titles being decided in Sunday's technical races and there are probably some logistical issues as well. But a cancellation is an unfortunate way to decide the crystal globe. I'm sure the fans would rather have the titles decided by racing, even if they missed it when at work on Monday as a cancellation means they didn't see racing anyway. They don't tune in to see the trophy presented, they tune in to see the skiers racing for the trophy.
I'm not sure what it takes for the FIS to realize the speed specialists are at a disadvantage in the overall title hunt and make it a level playing field between speed and technical specialists. It's a pity that those speed specialists, not only risking their health but even their lives, are constantly being put at a disadvantage by the sanctioning body. The FIS failed to provide a fair race for the Olympic medals in men's combined but that's just one more example of how the FIS lets the weather ruin speed specialists' chances for success.
The Austrian Ski Federation is usually vocal when things don't go their way. Maybe things would start happening if there was a big star in the Austrian speed team. But as long as Austria's biggest star is a technical specialist, the current situation is fine for the ÖSV.
The heavy wind had obviously made it necessary to lower the downhill start and use a racing line bypassing the biggest jumps of the course. The Jeongseon downhill course is already a short one with a run of one minute, 40 seconds; using the super-G start shortened it by further 20 seconds and bypassing the big jumps made it easier for less routined downhill skiers. Yet this is where the logic of the International Ski Federation fails, and this was not the first time. Despite the shortened downhill, the slalom leg was on a full course. This very much handed the medals to slalom specialists. The top six of the race were also the six fastest men on the slalom course.
I'm not sure the top two would've been any different with a full downhill course. Alexis Pinturault was 1.04 seconds and Marcel Hirscher 1.32 seconds behind Thomas Dreßen, the leader after the downhill leg. With downhill specialists losing over three seconds in the slalom leg, they might not have been able to build enough lead even on the full downhill course. Of course, it appeared the wind conditions were affecting the downhill with those starting among the first 10, like Dreßen, Hirscher, and Pinturault, being favored by their starting position.
However, the shortened downhill may still have decided the victory. While Pinturault is better in slalom than downhill, he can finish the downhill leg even on a full course close enough the leaders to overtake them in the slalom. His strength against Hirscher is the downhill. On a full course, he might have been able to build enough gap to Hirscher to stay ahead in the slalom leg.
This was not the first farcical alpine combined at major championships. Last two men's combined races at the World Championships have been won by the 30th skiers of the downhill leg who were able to benefit greatly from being the first skiers on the slalom leg in warm conditions with the course deteriorating rapidly. The Olympic combined could have been different with the slalom course holding up well in the cold Korean weather. A pity it was ruined by a shortened downhill.
I'm not the first to cry about unfair conditions. It's unfortunate for the fans who have come to watch a race to see it canceled. If this had been a regular World Cup race, I'd have been fine with it; do whatever you need to get the race safely carried out. But when it's the highlight of the year, or four years in the case of the Olympics, the athletes deserve a fair race.
I don't think the downhill leg should have taken place as scheduled with the wind affecting the results. They could have started with the slalom leg as scheduled and have the downhill leg another day like has happened before in similar situations. That would actually have been even fairer as the slalom specialists barely making the top 30 in the downhill, like the bronze medalist Victor Muffat-Jeandet, wouldn't get such a big advantage from their starting position. And even if starting with a shortened downhill was the right decision, the slalom leg should have been shortened respectively.
The FIS clearly has a strange view about what is a fair race. The combined format has some major flaws, yet the FIS has done nothing to fix those issues. At least there won't be many farces like this remaining as the alpine combined will likely be gone by the 2021 World Championships. Though it's a pity because it could be a great event. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of examples of how the FIS fails to provide a level playing field for the speed specialists against the technicians.
World Cup skewed in favor of technical specialists
The men's World Cup has been dominated by technical specialists this decade. After the speed specialist Carlo Janka won the 2010 overall title, technical specialists have claimed the big crystal globe with Ivica Kostelić winning in 2011 and Marcel Hirscher every season since 2012.
The World Cup schedule has more races in technical disciplines than in speed ones. That's nothing new, although the introduction of parallel races has added to the number of technical races. Yet what is different is the evolution of giant slalom. Speed specialists used to have success also in giant slalom, boosting their overall title campaigns. Benjamin Raich in 2006 was the only speed specialist winning the overall title in the 00s. Yet ever since the the GS equipment changed from the 28-meter radius skis to longer 35-meter radius skis in the 2012-13 season, speed specialists have been struggling in that discipline, hurting their overall title chances.
The radius of GS skis was shortened to 30 meters starting from this season. Although the equipment is now closer to the old skis, it seems like the speed specialists are still no longer able to succeed in giant slalom. That is very harmful for their chances for the big crystal globe as meanwhile there are technical specialists like Hirscher or Pinturault who can even win in super-G on some of the more technical courses. When you see a World Cup champion like Aksel Lund Svindal and another Olympic medalist Kjetil Jansrud struggling to make the second round in giant slalom, you know the discipline is different than what it was in their heyday in giant slalom.
With speed specialists no longer succeeding in giant slalom, the only way to give them an equal chance to race for the overall title would seem to be adding speed races into the schedule. An equal number of races in each discipline should be the priority of scheduling, or at least an equal number between speed and technical disciplines. It can't be so difficult. At least the long-term calendar for the 2020-21 season seems better in that regard for men, although the parallel races still skew the schedule in favor of technical specialists.
It's not only the scheduling but also the replacement policy. Last season one of the scheduled men's downhill races ended up being permanently canceled. The schedule should leave enough space for replacement dates because every canceled race is one less scoring opportunity for the specialists in that discipline. And with the speed disciplines more prone to weather-related cancellations, that's yet another factor against speed specialists overall title hopes.
What's even worse is the replacement policy at the World Cup Finals, leading to some farcical season finales. In 2013 the speed races had to be canceled at the Finals in Lenzerheide, denying Aksel Lund Svindal his last opportunity to challenge Marcel Hirscher for the overall title while securing the downhill title without having to race for it. In 2011, also in Lenzerheide, Maria Riesch (now Höfl-Riesch) celebrated her only World Cup overall title by three points over Lindsey Vonn after the season-ending giant slalom was canceled, a discipline where Vonn had the advantage over Riesch.
In both cases, and many others, the final races were not rescheduled because the FIS rules don't allow it. I get it, the TV channels want the titles being decided in Sunday's technical races and there are probably some logistical issues as well. But a cancellation is an unfortunate way to decide the crystal globe. I'm sure the fans would rather have the titles decided by racing, even if they missed it when at work on Monday as a cancellation means they didn't see racing anyway. They don't tune in to see the trophy presented, they tune in to see the skiers racing for the trophy.
I'm not sure what it takes for the FIS to realize the speed specialists are at a disadvantage in the overall title hunt and make it a level playing field between speed and technical specialists. It's a pity that those speed specialists, not only risking their health but even their lives, are constantly being put at a disadvantage by the sanctioning body. The FIS failed to provide a fair race for the Olympic medals in men's combined but that's just one more example of how the FIS lets the weather ruin speed specialists' chances for success.
The Austrian Ski Federation is usually vocal when things don't go their way. Maybe things would start happening if there was a big star in the Austrian speed team. But as long as Austria's biggest star is a technical specialist, the current situation is fine for the ÖSV.
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