BarcelonaA few months ago, a piece of news changed the way a few athletes saw the future. The International Olympic Committee decided that downhill skiing would become an Olympic sport from the date of 2026 in Italy, with the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Top athletes who didn’t see it possible to win an Olympic medal suddenly saw a new horizon opening up. And the specialty World Cups that start this week in Catalonia can be an opportunity to see who will be the favorite three years from now on Italian soil.
This week the Catalan resort of Boí Taüll (Alta Ribagorça) will be the official venue of the ISMF World Championships Skimo 2023, the World Championships of this specialty, from February 27 to March 5. Boí Taüll was already the seat of the European Ski Mountain Championships in February 2022, a key experience to now be able to host the World Championships under the umbrella of the International Ski Mountain Federation (ISMF). Specifically, it is a World Cup with five different events: sprint, individual, vertical, relays and teams. In this sense, the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to accommodate mountain skiing at the Olympic Games in Milan – Cortina d’Ampezzo has marked a before and after in the competitions of skim at all levels. Thus, of the five competitions that will be contested in Boí Taüll, two will be those that the IOC has decided to be part of the Games: sprints and relays.
Oriol Cardona, the great hope
And precisely in the sprint the name of Oriol Cardona (Ski Club Camprodon) stands out. The 28-year-old from Banyol is in the best moment of his career, after great successes such as becoming European champion a year ago in Boí Taüll. Already in 2018, the little one from the Cardona lineage managed to close the World Cup on his debut with a more than meritorious third place. Cardona’s challenge is to aspire to get on the podium in this World Cup in both the sprint race and the mixed relay, a test where she will partner with the Andalusian Ana Alonso. In fact, at the last World Cup event in Val Martello, South Tyrol, both skiers won first place. In the individual sprint event, Cardona was second. The sprint will be contested virtually unchanged compared to the current format. In particular, it lasts three minutes and is contested on a maximum of 70 meters of positive gradient.
Precisely the Sprint test will kick off the world championships this Tuesday. The Sprint test lasts around 3 minutes for each athlete and is contested in a maximum of 70 meters of positive gradient. The location of this test has been chosen so that the public can enjoy the race without having to travel around the station, and it can be observed from the base of the same.
Més enllà d’Oriol Cardona, bona part de la representació espanyola al Mundial està formada per catalans, amb els noms de Marta Garcia (CE Cerdanya Skimo Team) en categoria sènior al costat de la jove Maria Costa (AE Mountain Runners del Berguedà). Garcia, after a season without competing due to maternity, returns to the competition with the desire to continue fighting for the leading positions. In the senior category there will also be Pere Rullan (CE la Molina Sport Club), Pau Coll (Ski Club Camprodon), Jordi Alís (CE Cerdanya Skimo Team) and Nil Cardona (Ski Club Camprodon). In the under-23, Ot Ferrer and Maria Costa (AE Mountain Runners del Berguedà), Albert Pérez (CE Cerdanya Skimo Team) and Marc Ràdua (CEPS). In the under-20 category Ares Torra, Berta Guitart, Enric Baños and Tomeu Comellas (AE Mountain Runners del Berguedà) and Biel Pujol (CE Farners). And, finally, in the under-18 Laia Selles (CE Cerdanya Skimo Team), Aina Garreta (CEPS), Erola Rocias (AE Mountain Runners del Berguedà) and Aaron Álvarez (CE Mindundis Team).
In alpine skiing, you have to climb snowy gradients with the same skis as in cross-country skiing. A discipline in which Catalans have excelled in recent years thanks in part to the Mountain Ski Technology Center (CTEMC). A center that in its beginnings had key figures such as Jordi Canals and Kilian Jornet, who in recent years has continued to support the CTEMC by giving talks. Now, under the leadership of figures such as Pau Gómez, Aribau Portillo and Marc Pinsach, the center continues to promote the practice of a discipline that has brought much joy to Catalan sport in recent years.
At the opening ceremony, the Regional Councilor and president of the organizing committee, Juli Fernàndez i Olivares, declared that “One year ago we hosted the 2022 European Championships. Once again Boí Taüll is positioned at the epicenter of the international calendar of Mountain Sky. A recognition for the territory and for Boí Taüll for its versatility”. The president of FGC, Antoni Segarra i Barreto, added that “success appears when opportunity and work meet and we must be grateful for the opportunities that have been given to make this world championship possible. Thank you for the opportunity given to us by this incomparable environment of the Vall de Boí, a UNESCO World Heritage Site”.