Since the pandemic situation is only now gradually becoming more predictable for politicians after the Christmas vacations, the FWT organizers had no choice but to wait with further decisions until there is a little more planning security. After all, we have to come to terms with the political decisions of at least several Alpine countries regarding restrictions. For this reason, a Zoom press conference (for press representatives) has been announced for 20.01.2021, at which the planned path for the 2021 season will be outlined as clearly as possible.
For example, it is still not clear for the New Zealand participants Hank Bilous, Craig Murray and Jess Hotter whether they will be able to take part this year, or whether the effort and risk for New Zealanders will pay off. They would currently face a 3-week quarantine on their return to New Zealand, and they have not been able to find an agreement with their personal insurers that would cover a Covid infection while traveling abroad. New Zealand currently has virtually no Covid cases and is keen to keep it that way.
Of course, the FWT is all about marketing and (live) images, which should be seen by as many interested viewers in the target groups as possible. The ranking and a fair, comprehensible competition are also part of the show alongside spectacular images. It will be exciting to see whether a fair way can be found to ensure that there is no distortion of competition among the elite due to travel restrictions and that regional qualifier events such as the upcoming Open Faces FWQ event in Kappl, Tyrol, at the end of January can have a certain significance. In addition, it should perhaps also be considered not to create incentives to disregard rules, as creative solutions are already being discussed in the internal social media groups of FWQ riders.
The 4* FWQ in Montafon (Vorarlberg), which was planned for 26.02.2021, has been canceled. The much earlier event in Kappl (Tyrol) is still on the calendar. Ultimately, we can only wait and hope that after the press conference on 20.01.2021 there will be some planning certainty for the organization and riders and that sensible solutions can be found. It is safe to assume that both qualifiers and FWT events will not be accessible to the planned extent and probably not equally for all potential participants. You will probably find out more here in ContestHappening next week.
