This year in the World Championship in speed skiing we have a record for Andorra for number of athletes from 18 countries, Nadal Antor, Chief of the races at the World Championship in Speed skiing

Nadal AntorNadal Antor, Chief of the races at the world Championship in Speed skiing, tells All Andorra about the results of the World Championship in speed skiing 2016 in Andorra:

“This year in the world Championship in speed skiing we have a record for Andorra for number of athletes – men and women from 18 countries. This does not happen always! The last time this number of athletes could be seen in Verbier – just when we got there 7-8 years ago.

The world Cup in the FIS discipline “Speed Ski – Flying kilometer” – the fastest and the most high-tech type of skiing (it is even called “Formula 1 on skis”). It has a long prehistory. The discipline arose earlier than The international Ski Federation (FIS.) was created. First competitions were held in the USA in 30-s years of the twentieth-century. Later boom took place in Italy and Chile.

7-8 years ago the delegation of Andorra was invited to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier to look at the World Cup in speed skiing competition. We loved what we saw. We returned to Andorra with a firm decision to hold a similar event with us. We had to choose a place for speed runs and prepare it, because, Grandvalira didn’t have tracks that could meet all the requirements of FIS for this type of competitions. Then we turned to the FIS with the request to issue the relevant authorisation. Upon inspection of the FIS we got the permission and were fully prepared to host Speed Skiing competitions in Andorra.

This year we are holding the 5th Cup. Originally, athletes competed at another track. We had a lot of work to open the track Riberal (Grau Roig sector). This track is much safer, it is easier to get speed, it is much better quality. The project investor is a joint stock company SAETDE, one of the shareholders of Grandvalira. Absolutely all investments were private. That is, neither the government nor the district administration to which we belong (Canillo) did not participate in the project.

The budget for the current competition is about 120 000 euros.

Competitions are very spectacular: athletes dressed in beautiful aerodynamic suits and special helmets. Skiers have a very high level of training – these competitions are very risky and dangerous.

We are very pleased that Andorra hosts this World Cup with the participation of 18 countries. And we are waiting for new records! Today’s speed record, made in Andorra, 168 km/h. That was 2 years ago.

Today we almost came close to this indicator: the maximum speed recorded on the first day of competition, was 164 km/h. And we still have three days!”

Look here for the photos from the event

Steven Broyden

 

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