Comment
Share
Posted on Friday June 18th at 12:25 p.m.
Tweet
Shelly Gotlieb Photo: Pablo Azocar
The Congress also unanimously passed proposals from the USA and France to submit ski halfpipe to the International Olympic Committee for consideration as early as 2014. Representatives of SSNZ worked closely with the US Federation to garner support for the ski halfpipe proposal in advance of and during the Congress.
A decision on new events for 2014 could be made by the IOC as early as November, but more likely sometime in 2011.
Both the New Zealand and US/France proposals offer significant opportunities for New Zealand athletes on the world stage, as New Zealanders excel in both disciplines. Wanaka freeskier Jossi Wells is the current overall World Champion, and Ohakune's Shelly Gottlieb is fresh off a podium finish in snowboard slopestyle at the US Open.
"Kiwis have demonstrated that they can earn medals in these disciplines," said SSNZ CEO Ross Palmer, "so the more we can do to develop these sports at an international level, the more opportunities we create for our athletes on the world stage."
In his presentation to the FIS Congress, Palmer stated, "No one can deny the spectacular show that was put on by the snowboard halfpipe athletes at the Vancouver Olympics. Snowboard slopestyle offers the same opportunity to progress the sport of snowboarding, to showcase the sport's best athletes, and to ensure that we stay current with new trends in our sports."
Jossi Wells Photo: Getty Images Sport
The first opportunity to include snowboard slopestyle in a World Championship will be this February at the World Championships in La Molina. Once it has been included in two World Championship programmes, it then becomes eligible for Olympic status.
Ski halfpipe has been included in FIS World Championships since 2005 and is already on the program for the 2012 Youth Olympics in Innsbruck.
"Five years ago, the FIS Freestyle Committee stated its plan to seek inclusion of new events in the Olympic Games," Palmer told the Congress. "The inclusion of ski cross in Vancouver was an enormous success, and we believe ski halfpipe offers the same opportunity based on the growing popularity of these new events. Ski halfpipe will help make freestyle more visible and relevant to youth worldwide."
Through its proposals to FIS, SSNZ has put itself at the forefront of sport development in both snowboarding and freestyle. New Zealand will stage the first-ever FIS ski slopestyle competition during the FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships, scheduled for August in Wanaka. On-snow events will be staged at Cardrona and Snow Park.
"One of our next priorities is to progress ski slopestyle within FIS, with a long-term goal of inclusion in the World Championships, and eventually the Olympics," Palmer added.
Team snowboardcross was also unanimously accepted as a World Championship sport at the FIS Congress. The team format has already been tested successfully on the World Cup and was well received by the public and athletes. A nation's event will bring a fantastic new element to the typically individual competitions of snowboarding.
The FIS is already submitting both an alpine team event and women's ski jumping again to the IOC for 2014 consideration, both approved in past meetings.