Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

FIS says no to Vonn's race bid

Female ski star not allowed to race with men at Lake Louise downhill
sports_features1
DENIED Lindsey Vonn (middle) celebrates one of her many victories at Lake Louise Winterstart over the years. She's won 17 of her 84 career World Cup medals at Lake Louise, including this downhill in 2007. Photo by Alpine Canada Pentaphoto

The International Skiing Federation (FIS) stuck a pin in the bubble of excitement surrounding American skier Lindsey Vonn's bid to race with the men in the downhill at Lake Louise Winterstart later this month.

FIS officials announced their decision following their autumn meeting in Switzerland on Saturday, stating only that "one gender is not entitled to participate in the races of the other and exceptions will not be made to the FIS Rules. In terms of her request to participate in the men's downhill in Lake Louise, she is welcome to submit a request to the Organizing Committee and jury to be a forerunner."

Vonn is the most dominant female ski racer of this generation with four overall World Cup championships and 97 World Cup medals to her credit dating back to her first win in 2004. She's also the dominant female skier at Lake Louise, posting nine of her 26 World Cup wins in the women's downhill and super G.

The men and women race different courses at Lake Louise so it's impossible to tell how she would stack up against the men year over year. It's also not clear at this point whether she would enter the race as a forerunner, which would result in a timed but unranked run on the same track.

Vonn did not comment publicly by press time, but Bill Marolt, the president and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association expressed his disappointment on her behalf.

"Lindsey Vonn is a great champion in our sport and we have always respected her interests in this new challenge," he stated. "It's important for us to support athletes like Lindsey. She has achieved greatness from her tenacity in seeking new challenges. We're disappointed that the FIS Council did not support the proposal but also respect its direction. Now we have to keep a strong focus on the World Championships this season and the 2014 Olympics."

Max Gartner, the president of Alpine Canada, was also supportive of Vonn's bid.

"I'm disappointed to hear that Lindsey will not be racing against the men in Lake Louise," he said. "I saw it as a great opportunity to raise the profile of the sport by attracting interest from people who do not normally follow ski racing, particularly in North America. It would have provided a great platform to showcase our sport and the amazing athletic performances of our athletes.

"Lindsey has achieved many milestones in women's ski racing. It would have been interesting to see how she stacked up against the best male racers in the world. Lake Louise is the perfect venue to have that comparison because Lindsey has as much experience on the mountain as many of the men have had.

"I hope Lindsey gets a chance to fulfill her dream at a later date."

Lake Louise Winterstart gets underway with the opening men's downhill and super G races on Nov. 24 and 25, and the first two women's downhill races and first super G from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. More information on the races is available at www.alpinecanada.org/winterstart.

This is not the first time that FIS has run into criticism regarding women. Prior to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games they refused to sanction women's ski jumping as an official sport, despite the fact that it was more developed in terms of numbers and nations participating than other sports allowed by FIS and the IOC. That decision prompted a lawsuit on behalf of the skiers that was unsuccessful at the provincial level on the grounds that only FIS and the IOC have the power to make a sport "Olympic." The judge was sympathetic, and the jumpers took their case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which refused to hear their appeal.

FIS has also been widely criticized for limiting spots in the finals for women in events like freestyle and snowboarding, giving them fewer opportunities to compete and win medals. For example, only the top six women qualify for the finals in halfpipe versus the top 12 men.

Slalom races kick off season

Canada's slalom team will get its first kick at the can in Levi, Finland this Saturday. All eyes will be on Ontario's Erin Mielzynski, who last season became the first Canadian woman to win a slalom World Cup event since 1971.

"I'm really excited for this season in slalom," she said. "At the beginning of the season there's always some nerves. You just have to accept that and push through. We've all put in the work. Now's the time when we can just kind of see our hard work pay off."

Also racing is Marie-Michele Gagnon, who earned her first career podium in slalom last season with a bronze medal finish. She also kicked off the season two weekends ago with a sixth place finish in giant slalom.

She's excited to be racing under the lights at Levi this year.

"I remember getting off the bus in Levi, and it was minus 40 or something," she said of her first race in Finland. "It doesn't get light until 11 a.m. and it gets dark around 4 p.m. When it's light it's kind of like our haziest days in Canada. It's like a rainy haze."

Also racing on the women's team are Elli Terwiel, Eve Routhier, Britt Phelan and Madison Irwin. The men's team includes Whistler's Mike Janyk, Julien Cousineau, Trevor Philp and Sasha Zaitsoff.

"The goal is to see Mike ski into the top 15," said men's head coach Pete Bosinger. "We would like to see top 10 but it's the first race of the year and his start number is going to be late teens or early twenties. At this point Cousineau is coming back from injury, so for him to ski in the top 30 would be the goal."

Cousineau's wife also gave birth to a son last week.