U-turn on the Lauberhorn: race canceled, what’s behind it? – Sports

The message is short and concise: The canton of Bern cancels this year’s Lauberhorn races in Wengen in consultation with those involved. The situation in Wengen, with the increasing number of corona virus infections, would have prompted the local canton to revert to the decision to hold Lauberhorn races, which was announced on Sunday.

The 2021 ski races in Wengen will definitely not take place!

Did the falls explode that night? “No,” says Gundekar Giebel, the head of communications for the Bern canton health department.

The British variant of the virus is assumed, Giebel continues. The planned “World Cup convoy bubble” was no longer guaranteed. Imagine if a team had been infected, the whole World Cup plan fell apart due to the quarantine. And the Cortina World Cup in February will no longer take place.

The cancellation was made on Monday after noon.

The canton decided last Monday at noon on the definitive cancellation, according to Swiss Ski managing director Bernhard Aregger. I’m very sorry for the cancellation. The athletes are in top form, now the entire infrastructure must be dismantled. Now we have to look forward, we have learned it in the last ten months, ”said the Lucerne resident who worked for the police before moving to Swiss Ski. As a former chief of police operations and planning, Aregger is the right man in this difficult situation. He says:

One measure would have been for the entire World Cup entourage to have tested themselves daily. “I don’t know if this would have been effective,” says Aregger. The cancellation of the races hits everyone hard. However, from a sporting point of view, it is important that races are composed, Aregger added. Wengen’s races will be postponed to Kitzbühel (AUT).

The new program for Kitzbühel:

• Saturday January 16, 2021 Slalom World Cup (Wengen)

• Sunday January 17, 2021 Hahnenkamm Slalom

• Friday, January 22, 2021 World Cup Downhill (Wengen)

• Saturday 23 January 2021 Descent of Hahnenkamm

• Sunday, January 24, 2021 Hahnenkamm-Super-G

Now everything in Wengen has to be dismantled. How the financial loss will be shared is still open. “We have to meet as soon as possible and assess the financial point of view,” said Swiss Ski Managing Director Bernhard Aregger.

On Sunday, the FIS International Ski Federation gave the green light to the trip after consulting with the Berne authorities. The teams were instructed Monday morning not to travel to Wengen due to the worsening situation.

Swiss Ski tweeted:

At the Lauberhorn there should have been a downhill race on Friday and Saturday and a slalom on Sunday.