The Alpine Skiing World Championships in Courchevel-Méribel will take place in February 2023. Seven months before this major event for our region, we take stock of the organization, with the president of the organizing committee, Bernard Front. He is the guest of France Bleu Pays de Savoie this Thursday.
Bernard Front, president of the organizing committee of the 2023 Alpine Skiing World Championships in Courchevel Méribel was the exceptional guest of France Bleu Pays de Savoie this Thursday morning, to take stock of the organization of the 2023 World Skiing Championships , in Courchevel and Méribel, in 2023.
Seven months will pass quickly. Are you in your transition time on the organizational side?
Bernard Front: Seven months is very fast, but our schedule is respected. We are in transition times as you say. No particular subject, no delicate subject.
Are there elements on which you will intensify your work? Any areas that could be improved, such as car parks, for example?
Yes, so, of course, to welcome all the spectators who will come, we are setting up a transport plan with relay parks in the valleys from Albertville to Moutiers and to see Bozel. And then, then, from the Moutiers station obviously, we will have a train of coaches which will take the spectators who come. The transportation plan is being finalized. We have a meeting with the Region but for the moment, we are within the framework. There is an GIE which was created by the Savoyard carriers. And on the other hand, we have no problem finding buses since, for these world championships, as you know, we have reversed the dates of the school holidays. So of course, all the transport players in Savoie and Haute-Savoie will be mobilized for these February holidays.
The finals of the World Cup season, last March, in Courchevel and Méribel, was a life-size test. A test that reassured you?
Yes quite. The test is to put all the events for the finals in five days, to welcome all the athletes. So it was a somewhat special setting. It was 25 athletes per event. We were testing the new Eclipse track, which everyone has been talking about for a long time. The athletes were all excited. The girls too, because they participated in the speed events on this track. So we didn’t have any particular problem. The format was maybe a little slower this year than the track will be next year. We will have the men, so it will be a fabulous match on an extraordinary track.
Does it meet your expectations, this Eclipse track?
Yes, because when you organize world championships, the stage is the track and the actors are athletes and they all come to fight for a medal. It is a one day event. We often have surprises, but that’s part of the show. So this track there, it absolutely corresponds to all the new demands of the athletes. It’s a track that is committed, a track that will be fast. It’s a track that will be difficult due to its preparation. So we will have all the ingredients to have an extraordinary show. And then, on the Méribel side, we have the Roc de Fer track which is a known track on the women’s circuit. We had already hosted a very long time ago, 30 years ago, the events of the Olympic Games in Albertville. So, it’s all right.
Are you looking for volunteers? Recruitment underway?
There are approximately 1,200 volunteers, who are spread over two sites. The duration of the world championships is fifteen days, so there must be periods of work, periods of rest. So here is. Recruitment is going very well so far.