The World Cup will end no later than March 15: Beat Feuz and Corinne Suter are sure to win the general classification, the Bernese in downhill and the Schwyz in Super-G!
The FIS has given up on organizing the finals at Cortina d’Ampezzo from March 18 to 22, the Italian winter sports federation announced. It adds in a press release that the races planned in Italy will not be replaced. The FIS confirmed this information in the evening.
First consequences of this cancellation, Beat Feuz (33) and Corinne Suter (25) are sure to win a new Crystal Globe. The Bernese is crowned for the third year in a row downhill, while the Schwyzoise triumphs in Super-G after having already obtained the Globe of the discipline-queen.
Beat Feuz is the fifth runner in history to win the downhill classification three times in a row, the second Swiss after Franz Heinzer (1991-1993). Corinne Suter is the sixth woman to complete the double downhill / Super-G in the same season, the second Swiss after Michaela Figini (1988).
This cancellation should also do the business of Federica Brignone. The Italian is at the top of the general classification with 153 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin. The end of the program (a slalom, a giant and a parallel) is favorable to the American, but it is not sure that it will be able to line up in Are.
In camera refused
The coronavirus epidemic will therefore have been right for the will of the organizers of the Cortina and Italian Federation (FISI) events, who hoped that the closed session imposed by the Italian government would be a sufficient measure. But the FIS Council refused this proposal and was unable to find an alternative.
The 2019-20 fiscal year must therefore end on March 15 in Kranjska Gora. But the Slovenian station – located close to the Italian border – which is slated to host a men’s giant and slalom on March 14 and 15, may also have to throw in the towel due to the coronavirus. The last women’s events, scheduled from March 12 to 14 in Åre, seem less threatened.
The FIS picks up speed
The International Federation had announced a few minutes before the Italian Federation’s press release that it would not make its decision until Saturday morning at 9 am, when it had assured that it would communicate on this subject Friday evening. Disappointed with this outcome, the FISI finally took the lead, and the FIS formalized the news two hours later.
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