NEW YORK CITY (Oct. 29) – International Ski Federation Secretary General Sarah Lewis joined U.S. ski racing officials for a New York City press conference to kick off the World Championship ski season in America. The
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Vail/Beaver Creek Feb. 2-15. Lewis joined U.S. Ski Team Olympic medalists Mikaela Shiffrin, Julia Mancuso and Andrew Weibrecht, citing the World Championships as an opportunity to showcase the sport in America with a strong U.S. Ski Team and national live broadcast coverage on NBC.
HIGHLIGHTS
- FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis joined U.S. Ski Team Olympic medalists in New York City, introducing over 60 national news media to the upcoming Feb. 2-15, 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek at the New York showroom of event partner J. Lindeberg.
- Olympic Medalists: The media event featured three of the six current Olympic or World Championship medalists on the U.S. Ski Team including Mikaela Shiffrin, Julia Mancuso and Andrew Weibrecht. Mancuso has won nine Olympic or World Championship medals.
- Hometown: Fresh from her season-opening Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win, Vail’s own Mikaela Shiffrin talked about how the event held the opportunity to spike interest in ski racing in America.
- Showcase: Lewis, along with 2015 Organizing Committee President Ceil Folz, called the event a showcase of alpine ski racing in America that will pay long-term dividends
- Groundbreaking Broadcast Coverage: Over 25 hours of televised coverage is planned, including live broadcast and streaming of every event, on NBC, NBCSN and Universal Sports.
- Kids: Each of the athletes pointed to the Championships as an opportunity to excite the next generation of ski racers.
QUOTES
Sarah Lewis, Secretary General, International Ski Federation
The World Championships will be the showcase of the season in Vail/Beaver Creek. On the annual World Cup circuit, Beaver Creek has become right up there with the classics – places like Kitzbuehel and Wengen. The races will be absolutely outstanding and technically challenging.
The broadcast coverage in the USA with NBC is groundbreaking - the USSA has done an outstanding job with that. The public will be more exposed than ever before to ski racing, which is important to the long-term growth of the sport in America.
We’ve seen the development with the 2015 Organizing Committee and the USSA take the Championships to the next level. You’ll see the very best on the hill. We need the Championships to be communicated around the country. Events like this tonight will get media and people talking about it.
Ceil Folz, President, 2015 World Championships Organizing Committee
We’re proud to join our sister city of St. Moritz as the only sites to host the Championships three times. But never before have we had as much potential as a Team as we do now with a chance to medal in almost every event. The World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek will have more television coverage than the Olympics. It’s a great opportunity for us as a country and a sport to showcase the great ski racing stars from around the world.
Tiger Shaw, President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association
Because of the commitment of Vail Valley Foundation and Vail resorts we were able to get the Championships back to America. It’s an enormous athletic benefit to us and helps us promote the sport in America. NBC’s coverage, with all the events being covered live in America, will be a game changer.
Mikaela Shiffrin, defending slalom World Champion
I’ve just come back from Europe and the athletes there are ecstatic about coming to ski in the U.S. Having the event in my hometown in the U.S. is going to spike the interest in ski racing in America. Everyone at the Vail Valley Foundation and in the community is working to make this event special.
There will be a lot of cool things happening around the World Championships and lots of après ski activities for the international visitors. Since I was young, I’ve always loved just walking around town.
Julia Mancuso, five-time World Championship medalist
It’s exciting to be able to say you have a big competition at home – to tell your friends and fto come out and watch the race – and to be able to watch it live, to watch us kick out of the start gate. It’s a great opportunity for the kids to show the youth of America that this is a great sport.
Andrew Weibrecht, two-time Olympic medalist
To me the two best courses in the world are Kitzbuehel and Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek. It’s one of those courses that’s full on from start to finish – there are no breaks. It’s exciting as an athlete and as a spectator.
The World Championships will gives kids an opportunity to see ski racing and hopefully get out there and give it a try. I coach camps and there’s a lot of eager kids out there. This will be a good start to showcase our sport even more.
