When I purchase something at the store, I want to
rip open the box, pull the item out and start using
it. I’ve never been big on instructions. Normally,
I only read them when I run into a problem that
I can’t figure out by punching a button, flipping
a switch or asking a friend how it works.
As this winter creeps closer, it appears the International
Skiing Federation also likes things nice and easy.
It seems the FIS will simplify the sport of Nordic
combined by using a one-jump, 10-kilometer race
format during its planned stops this winter.
That means the two-jump, 15-kilometer event is gone.
It also means the one-jump, 7.5-kilometer race —
in my opinion, one of the most exciting races in
all of sports — also is gone. The World Cup schedule
will hold onto two mass start events, in which the
athletes first cross-country ski and then ski jump
to decide the winner. But after this winter, those
events also will be gone.
It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Promoters of the change say they want to make the
sport of Nordic combined more TV-friendly. They
also want the event to fit into a 1 1/2-hour box
so they can feed it to the European audience at
least once a week, along with a healthy helping
of ski jumping. Europeans prefer sports such as
biathlon and ski jumping.Walter Hofer, the FIS Head
of Nordic combined and ski jumping, thinks the changes
to Nordic combined will produce a huge audience.
His plan is to take things that have been successful
in marketing ski jumping in Europe and apply them
to Nordic combined.
In addition to the sweeping changes mentioned above,
he would like to see a cut after the jumping round
to further condense the field.
Last year, several Nordic combined events were canceled
near the end of the season, and viewers lost interest.
To make sure that doesn’t happen this year, one
of the official training rounds will be scored.
Then, if the weather prevents jumping the next day,
those results can be used to seed the cross-country
race.
Some Nordic combined supporters, including American
assistant Chris Gilbertson, saw the changes as a
slap in the face when they first were proposed.
He thinks a cut after the jumping round cuts into
the basic idea of a combined event.
But Gilbertson and many others have accepted that
changes are coming and that athletes and coaches
need to make the best of them.
Unfortunately, there are no instructions about how
to fix the problems to make Nordic combined more
TV-friendly, but my guess is that it’s more involved
than just pushing a button or flipping a switch.
