The Alpine Ski World Cup: a ‘game changer’ for the International Ski Federation (1967–1975)?
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: On 5 January 1967, the small ski resort of Berchtesgaden in Germany made skiing history. The men's slalom on that day was the first race on the newly created World Cup circuit. While media coverage is booming with the democratisation of television, which the newspaper L’Equipe wants to develop its activities, the international ski scene is undergoing a profound revolution that will have consequences on the very structure of the governing body of world skiing, the International Ski Federation (FIS). If the beginnings of the World Cup were briefly explained by Montérémal, it's interesting to analyse the repercussions and the dynamics that are taking place within the FIS before and after this event. Based on a rich corpus of archives from the FIS, the IOC and the sports daily L’Equipe, this research reveals the dynamics that led to the creation of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, questions the way in which the FIS governing bodies managed the arrival of a private player, L’Equipe, on the international ski scene, and notes the consequences of the creation of the Skiing World Cup on the development and finances of the FIS.
Source: Sport in History
Author: Sébastien Cala
Institution: University of Lausanne
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4382561287