Alpine skiing: Salzburg rejects Flachau slalom
Alpine skiing
The now traditional women’s night slalom will not take place on the World Cup course named after Hermann Maier in Flachau this year due to the coronavirus situation. Due to the high 7-day incidence of over 7,600 in the Pongau ski resort on Thursday, the state of Salzburg spoke out in favor of canceling the event. The search for a replacement location is already in full swing.
“Due to the high incidence figures in Flachau, the State of Salzburg has spoken out against it being carried out. The Austrian Ski Association takes this recommendation very seriously and has therefore decided to postpone the race, ”said the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) in a broadcast. According to the ÖSV, a replacement location for the race planned for January 11th is to be found in “close coordination” with the International FIS.
The cancellation of the Flachau night slalom remains the only change for the upcoming winter sports events in Salzburg. “The World Cup events that will take place in Salzburg in the coming week (Audi FIS Ski World Cup Zauchensee from January 13th to 16th, 2022 and FIS Snowboard World Cup Bad Gastein from January 11th to 12th, 2022) will not be affected any further Will take place as planned with the tried and tested Covid-19 prevention concept of the Austrian Ski Association, ”said the ÖSV.
ÖSV President Roswitha Stadlobere is optimistic that the Flachau Slalom will find another location in Austria. “The talks are ongoing, we are in good spirits that we will find a replacement location,” Stadlober is quoted as saying in the APA. The decision should and must of course be made quickly. “We will definitely decide that soon, probably tomorrow,” said the President. People have waited, but something like this comes as a surprise. “But of course we already had it in the back of our minds and imagined scenarios.”
First CoV postponement of the season
A year ago, on January 12, 2021, the American Mikaela Shiffrin prevailed over Katharina Liensberger in Flachau. The fact that the scene was shaking a year later had been announced due to the high number of new coronavirus infections in Flachau. In the Salzburg tourist resort, the 7-day incidence on Wednesday morning was 7,627 – even if Mayor Thomas Oberreiter wanted to calve with the argument that between 15,000 and 16,000 people with guests and staff were currently in the 3,000-inhabitant town.
Flachau is just one of many winter sports resorts like Kitzbühel, where the Hahnenkamm races are on the program in January, in which the corona virus recently spread rapidly. At least Flachau, even if the ÖSV apparently still has a replacement location in the drawer, is the first cancellation or postponement of this Olympic winter due to the coronavirus pandemic. If no replacement location can be found for the canceled Flachau race, the only thing left to do for the slalom runners before the Olympics in Beijing is the race on Sunday (9.30 a.m. or 12.30 p.m., live on ORF1) from Marburg to Kranjska Gora.