Save Alpine Combined
This is the text of a petition to the International Ski Federation, published on the Change.org platform (https://www.change.org/p/international-ski-federation-fis-keep-alpine-combine-in-the-fis-world-cup). If you feel concerned, please go to the platform and sign it.
It is difficult to find official information regarding that issue, but the rumour is persistent, and the threat is real: one of the three eldest and most traditional disciplines of Alpine Skiing, Alpine Combined, is threatened to disappear from the FIS World Cup, hence, afterwards, from the World Ski Championships and the Olympic Games. As recently said by the Norwich Olympic and World Champion Kjetil Jansrud, in an interview to the Swiss newspaper "Le Matin" (https://www.lematin.ch/sports/sports-d-hiver/wengen-faut-devenir-suisse/story/11439801 "THIS IS A SHAME".
We ask the FIS, International Ski Federation, not to confirm the decision to erase Alpine Combined from the World Cup competition program.
Alpine Combined, is not only more traditional than Giant Slalom, Super G, and - very obviously - Parallel Slalom and City Event, it is overall the discipline that crown the most complete skier. From a sport point of view (and sport, not marketing, neither advertising income, is what is essential here) IT IS NOT A MINOR DISCIPLINE. It is enough to list the champions having recently climbed in the podium in that discipline, to become aware. Mikaela Shiffrin, Marcel Hirscher, Lara Gut, Alexis Pinturault, Tina Maze, Kjetil Jansrud, Anna Weith, Ivica Kostelic, Federica Brignone, Ted Ligety, Wendy Holdener, Aksel Lund Svindal are just few of the many great champions, from many nations, who have illustrated themselves showing they can be good in Downhill AND in Slalom, in the very last year. Alpine Combined is the discipline of the most complete and best champions. It also allows generalist sportsmen and women, like Marie-Michèle Gagnon or Thomas Mermillod-Blondin to show they are among the very best, although they are not top performers in a given speciality. There is no sporting reasons why generalists should be less valued than specialists. This is not the case in Nordic Skiing, where Nordic Combined is as prestigious as Jumping and Cross Country, and it shouldn't be the case in Alpine Skiing either.
What is the issue with Nordic Combined? Unlike other disciplines, it happens that the winner is not one of the last to start. You also have to see Downhill specialist slaloming in a not always elegant way. Therefore, that is true, Nordic Combine is a bit less spectacular than specialities, and certainly cause less incomes. That means only one thing: FIS should INVEST in Alpine Combined in order to defend one of its most traditional discipline, just like a young man should defend an old lady attacked by thieves (and not finish the old lady). With which money? With the incomes of the more spectacular disciplines, because the incomes should not be the goal for the FIS. The goal is the sport, and Alpine Combined is sport. Incomes are just the way to defend it.
Wihout Alpined Combined, we will have NO CHANCE, to see Peter Fill or Dominik Paris slaloming. We will never check how Luca Aerni or Victor Muffat-Jeandet manage to go down with long skis. Alpine skiing suffers of an hyper-specialisation desease, and Alpine Combined is the unic known cure against.
The resorts that welcomed that discipline in recent years are numerous and prestigious: excluding Kitzbuhel, we find in Switzerland Crans-Montana, Lerzerheide, Sankt-Moritz, and (of course) Wengen, in Italy Tarvisio, Bormio, and Santa Caterina, in France Val d'Isère, Meribel, and Chamonix, in Sweden, Are, in Andorra, Soldeu, in Bulgaria, Bansko, in Russia, Sochi, and even in Austria Altenmarkt/Zauchensee. There is enough candidates to organize Nordic Combined to keep three wretched events a year both for ladies and gentlemen. If Arlberg-Kandahar resorts still want it, there must be a way to maintain one of the eldest and most prestigious discipline of that sport. It seems also quite easy to deal with new candidates, asking them to organize an Alpine Combined in exchange for becoming a FIS World Cup resort. There is ways to protect that sport!
We ask the FIS to keep the Alpine Combined alive, with at least three World Cup Events per season.