Optimal Conditions

Roger Roth, Chair of the CTI Winter

TRENTINO – The Trentino Winter Universiade is half way, the right moment to have a chat with Roger Roth, the Chair of the International Technical Committee of the Winter Universiade of FISU.

This Universiade announced itself as being difficult: a very short preparation time, not the most perfect weather conditions, etc.

Roger Roth: “To be honest, when the President of the Organising Committee Sergio Anesi told me at the Heads of Delegation meeting in September that the Pope would ignite the Universiade torch, I jokingly said to ask the Pope to do something to get perfect weather conditions and it seems that the message was very well transmitted! More seriously, I think you could not ask for more. Above all, we were very fortunate that the snow was falling at a key moment, just before the deadline where we had to decide to cancel or not some of the snow events. And then the cold temperatures have allowed the organizers to produce more snow. No, we really had lots of luck at this level and today we have beautiful weather, with mild temperatures and no wind, it’s perfect for the conduct of these games for both athletes and spectators.”

We know that in these large organizations, there is always a bit of stress at the beginning and this is normal , but here, at the start of the competition, all this tension has settled down and now everyone can enjoy these games.

This year we have a new discipline in ski jumping: the mixed team competition (male and female ski jumper). The aim is to provide a second opportunity for girls to compete (which currently compete on the normal hill) and to have more countries participating in a team competition. This is also the spirit of innovation which is typical of university sport.

Yvan Dufour