Toni Guggemoos: "Satisfying
COC calendar in spite of all difficulties!"
Guggemoos - FIS
After Race Director Lasse Ottesen spoke about his
views on the new season last week, it's now time
to check in with Continental Cup Coordinator Toni
Guggemoos whose competition circle will kick off
overseas with races in the USA later in December.
This year, the creation of the Continental Cup calendar
wasn't exactly easy. How satisfied are you now with
the end result?
Toni Guggemoos: After I had been able to present
a full and very interesting Continental Cup calendar
to Race Director Lasse Ottesen in the spring time,
some extra difficulties like World Cup date changes,
planning of the different competition periods or
the Olympics came up which made it impossible for
some OCs to follow through on their confirmation
of holding a Continental Cup weekend. So, we had
to deal with some cancellations which, of course,
affected our travel routes.
But all is well that ends well and in spite of all
difficulties, I am quite satisfied with our calendar
now. Especially our traditional opening in the USA,
in Utah Olympic Park / Soldier Hollow at the 17th-19th
of December will be exciting.
You are also in charge of the Nordic Combined competitions
at the Junior World Championships which always are
a season highlight for many of the COC athletes.
Why are these competitions important for the development
of young athletes?
Guggemoos: Yes, the Junior World Championships are
the first big international competitions for our
young athletes. Some of the juniors have already
taken part in Continental Cup or even World Cup
competitions and will be an indicator for all other
participants. For others, the Junior Worlds are
the stepping stone into the Continental Cup.
The Continental Cup will also have the honour of
testing the newly restored World Championship facilities
in Falun at the beginning of March shortly before
the World Cup circuit stops there for the pre-World
Championship tests. What do you expect of this weekend?
Guggemoos: It is very important and in fact a very
good idea that we in Continental Cup are able to
test new venues and their facilities for functionality
and professionalism before the World Cup holds its
competitions there.
In Falun, I expect that the World Championship organisers
present perfectly prepared hills and tracks and
that the Organising Committee works in a very professional
and efficient way.
Last but not least I would expressly like to thank
all national ski associations and all venues which
are hosting and supporting the Continental Cup in
2013/14. Good luck and all the best to all participating
nations! I am looking forward to hopefully accident-free
and fair competitions!
The Continental Cup 2013/14 features 16 competitions
(14 Ind. Gundersens and 2 Team Sprints) in seven
venues. The tour kicks off in Soldier Hollow/Utah
Olympic Park (USA), before travelling to H?ydalsmo
(Norway), Klingenthal, (Germany), Planica (Slovenia),
Eisenerz (Austria) and Falun (Sweden). The final
will take place in Kuusamo, Finland in mid-March.