Column Technical

WE WERE NOT MISTAKEN Pau Serracanta. Technical Director of the Championships. ALPINE SKIING Next year the most important skiing competition for the disabled will be the Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Nagano (Japan).

There was great expectation in Spain on the days immediately prior to the start of the Championships, thanks to the publicity campaign which - through the press, radio and television - had been launched to promote the event. The commercial was very simple. It asked what a blind athlete needed to be able to ski, and the answer was simple too ... SNOW!!! Nevertheless, I am convinced that among the skiers, guides, trainers and organisational personnel who participated in these Championships, all of us were cursing the creative team of the advertising agency, because we not only needed snow (as a matter of fact there was a lot of it in Baqueira Beret), but also a bit more cold, sun, etc. I think the only negative aspect of the Championships was the weather. We had lots of rain, wind, high temperatures, fog, snow and, even, sand from the Sahara that gave a brown tinge to the white slopes of the Valle de Arán. But these adversities were unable to hold back the celebration of the competitions of these Alpine Skiing European Championships which brought together a record number of countries and blind athletes. For, whilst some countries insist that it is a mistake to organise Championships for just one handicapped group, the numbers demonstrate that, in the case of the blind and visually impaired athletes, it is advantageous, as far as increasing the number of participants per country is concerned. Take, for example, the participation of the American or British delegation, compared with their participation in previous international competitions. From an organisational point of view, thanks to the support received from the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind (ONCE), we were able to put every effort into ensuring the success of the Championships. We tried to include part of the new IBSA regulations (fluorescent numbers on the guides' backs, a separate lane for the guides at the starting gate, etc.), which will come into force on January 1st, 1998. We also made every effort to pamper the needs of the participants (lodgings, meals, small gifts,...) and I am convinced that our athletes, precisely the persons for whom we work, felt most comfortable there. The welcome from those present in Baqueira during the opening ceremony was fantastic, the atmosphere throughout the Championships most friendly and the dinner to close the event was really great fun. Speaking of the sporting side of things, it must be taken into account that, as these were regional Championships, there also existed a promotional aspect, which meant that the Championships had more exposure. There were skiers making their debut in international competition, enjoying the opportunity to take on the best skiers in the world. I feel that it was an ideal test for them, enabling them to gauge the amount of dedication and training they will need in order to attain the goal of being on the podium themselves some day. All the technical personnel witnessing these events realised that skiing for the blind and visually impaired has not yet peaked in terms of technical expertise. The skiers are improving day by day, obtaining really good times if we compare them, for example, with the times of the race for the guides. The die is cast, so we must now await the spectacle of the top figures battling it out next year in the most important skiing competition for the disabled, the Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Nagano (Japan). To finish off, I should like, once again, to congratulate all the champions and thank all the participants for their collaboration, and I hope to meet them all again at what will be the III European Championships, to be held in 1999 in Slovakia or Italy.