Over the past two days, a number of representatives from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation have been on site in Falun for the seventh Coordination Group meeting ahead of next year’s Falun 2027.
“We feel that we are on the right track and moving forward at a good pace,” says Sara Tigerström Monfelt, Deputy CEO and COO of Falun 2027.
It has been an intense few days of meetings in Falun. On Monday and Tuesday, several rights-holding broadcasters and production companies gathered in Falun as Falun 2027, together with Infront Sports and FIS (the International Ski and Snowboard Federation), hosted the World Broadcaster Meeting (WBM) — an important meeting ahead of the FIS Nordic Ski Championships.
On Tuesday, the FIS Coordination Group meeting began, with several representatives from FIS coming to Falun to carry out the regular progress reviews that take place twice a year throughout Falun’s World Championships journey, from being awarded the championships until next year’s major public celebration. This was the seventh such FIS Coordination Group meeting in Falun.
During the meeting, the entire World Championships journey was reviewed, covering everything from sporting matters to marketing and volunteers. Sara Tigerström Monfelt, Deputy CEO and COO of Falun 2027, was pleased with the meeting:
“These Coordination Group meetings are important to ensure that we are on schedule with our work ahead of the World Championships. During these days, in addition to presenting the entire project, we have also, as part of a new way of working, held several parallel working meetings with FIS across our various operational areas. It feels very positive, and I truly appreciate that FIS is so clearly showing that we are doing this together. We are making strong progress, there are no major obstacles left — now it is about continuing the work at full speed and fine-tuning the details,” says Tigerström Monfelt.
Sandra Spitz, Sport & Event Director, says:
“We can see that the organization has the right focus, and we have had many exciting and important discussions over these past few days. There is still a lot of work left to do, but that neither scares nor worries me. Now it is about continuing to work as one team to make the World Championships a great success for everyone. Overall, I am satisfied, but we cannot slow down — rather, we need to shift into an even higher gear,” says Spitz.
Among the updates presented during the FIS Coordination Group meeting were several within the sporting area.
“We are very pleased to already have the full competition management organization in place for all three of our disciplines: ski jumping, Nordic combined, and cross-country skiing,” says Tobias Söderberg-Jönsson, Head of Sports, Falun 2027.
Here is the competition organization:
Chief of Competition Ski Jumping: Per Busk
Assistant Chief of Competition Ski Jumping: Reed Zuehlike
3rd Assistant Chief of Competition Ski Jumping: Kristian Brenden
Chief of Competition Nordic Combined: Lars-Erik Eriksson
Assistant Chief of Competition Nordic Combined: Marie Rapp
3rd Assistant Chief of Competition Nordic Combined: Hubert Mathis
Chief of Competition Cross-Country: Per Lindberg
Assistant Chief of Competition Cross-Country: Mikaela Sundbaum
3rd Assistant Chief of Competition Cross-Country: Björn Westerström
Regarding snow storage, a total of 40,000 cubic meters of snow has been preserved from the past winter and is now stored in two different locations at Lugnet.
“The fact that Falun Municipality had the opportunity to store snow at Lugnet from last winter means that we have already secured the snow needed to guarantee snow production for the ski jumping arena as well as five kilometers of our competition courses in the cross-country arena,” says Söderberg-Jönsson.
It has also been confirmed that during the World Championships there will be a larger tent solution where several of the smaller, less established cross-country nations will have access to shared waxing facilities.
“There are several positive aspects to this: partly knowledge transfer, where smaller nations will have the opportunity to benefit from expertise from our partner Swix. It is also a cost-effective and important sustainability solution, as it allows us to reduce the number of waxing cabins,” says Tobias Söderberg-Jönsson.
The FIS Final Inspection — the final review before the championships begin — will take place in Falun in October.