FIS - International Ski Federation Fact Sheet

FIS Downhill Thursday, March 18, 2004
Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, Alaska

FIS Points System Identifies Very Competitive and Olympic Caliber Racers

The Men’s and Women’s FIS Downhill race at Alyeska today, Thursday, March 18 th, 2004 is an FIS points sanctioned alpine event.

Upon entry to FIS, racers are assigned 999 beginning points. Simply put, as racing activity progresses, each racer earns points that are subtracted from the beginning points. Racers with 200 to 100 points are considered to be very competitive. Racers with 100 points and below are considered Olympic competitor quality.

FIS Points FIS points are used as the seeding system and are calculated from each international FIS race. The calculation system is based on a number of factors, including the standard of the race based on the FIS points, ranking of the participants who start and finish the race, its’ running time, the different race categories and penalty provisions.

FIS Background The International Ski Federation - Fédération Internationale de Ski, Internationaler Ski Verband - is abbreviated in all languages as FIS. The organization was founded in February 1924 during the first Olympic Games in Chamonix, France with 14 member nations. Today 101 National Ski Associations comprise the membership of the FIS.

Competition The alpine competitions that are contested in the FIS World Cup series, FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and at the Olympic Winter Games consist of ten events: five for ladies and five for men. Additional formats such as the Parallel Slalom and (Knock-Out) Slalom and Giant Slalom are carried out as variations of the alpine events. The rules are the same for men and ladies, but the courses differ. In all cases, time is measured to .01 seconds and ties are permitted.

The FIS Alpine events are:

Downhill
The downhill features the longest course and the highest speeds in Alpine skiing. It includes steep pitches, challenging turns, jumps and gliding phases. Each skier makes a single run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Super-G
Super-G stands for super giant slalom, an event that combines the speed of downhill with the more precise turns of giant slalom. The course is shorter than downhill but longer than a giant slalom course, and also includes high speed turns, jumps and gliding phases. Each skier makes one run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Giant slalom
Also known as the GS. It is a similar version to the slalom, with fewer turns and wider, smoother turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day, usually with the first run held in the morning and the second run in the afternoon. The times are added, and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Slalom
The slalom features the shortest course and the quickest turns. As in the giant slalom, each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day. The times are added and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Combined
The combined event consists of one downhill and two slalom runs. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner. The combined downhill and the combined slalom are contested independently of the regular downhill and slalom events, and the combined courses are shorter than the regular versions. Usually the entire combined event is held on a single day at the same venue.



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