Yesterday, June 4, 2024, at the 55th FIS Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced that Narvik will host the 2029 Alpine World Ski Championships.
Narvik, a town north of the Arctic Circle, surprisingly won the FIS Council vote in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik against the established hosts Val Gardena and Soldeu. Narvik received 11 votes, Val Gardena 8. Soldeu had no chance with just one vote. That means the World Ski Championships will take place in Norway for the first time in 2029. In 2020, the Junior World Championships took place in Narvik.
All of Norway – the political environments, organizations, businesses, and the people who live there, stand together and are enthusiastically behind the plans for the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Narvik. The announcement was met with exuberant joy by the Narvik delegation, which included notable local and retired athletes like Ragnhild Mowinckel and Leif Kristian Haugen.
"This is a monumental day for Norwegian skiing. The FIS World Championships is one of the world’s largest sporting events, viewed by millions globally. Norway has long been recognized as a top alpine nation, and now we can finally host the Alpine World Championships at home," Tove Moe Dyrhaug, president of the Norwegian Ski Federation said.
"Ski-Norway and Northern Norway have lifted this championship project together through close and effective cooperation over many years. We eagerly look forward to the next stage with the Norwegian Ski Federation, local municipalities, regional businesses, and many other partners. While we recognize the significant work ahead, our primary focus is on creating a fantastic FIS World Championships," Knut-Eirik Dybdal, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Alpine World Championships 2029 said.
The 2031 Alpine World Ski Championships were also awarded during this session. FIS decided to award two World Championships due to the high caliber of the bids. Val Gardena received 14 votes and Soldeu 6.
Val Gardena will host the Alpine World Ski Championships for a second time after hosting the event in 1970.
Val Gardena is home to the Saslong Classic, one of the iconic Men's World Cup Downhill races.
The Saslong course is considered one of the five "classic" Men's Downhill races, along with Garmisch-Partenkirchen's Kandahar, Kitzbühel's Hahnenkamm, Wengen's Lauberhorn, and Val-d'Isère's Criterium de la Première Neige (FRA).
"I have no words. It's just incredible. We have worked so hard over the past three years to realize this dream, developing a comprehensive concept that encompasses innovation, inclusion, sustainability, sportiness, professionalism, our Ladin identity, and many other factors. Now, this dream is a reality. Our work, our first-class dossier, and above all, our passion for skiing have been recognized. We are deeply grateful to the FIS for their confidence, and we promise to organize successful competitions in seven years," Rainer Senoner, President of the Organizing Committee said.
"A great success for Italy and a great success for Val Gardena, which has a truly wonderful project, which could not be discarded. It was a close competition and congratulations go to Narvik and Soldeu. But there is great satisfaction in having achieved this success and I am sure that it will be another World Championship of the highest level, as is tradition on Italian snow," Flavio Roda, President of the FISI said.
Having discussed the proposals submitted by each discipline’s respective committee at the FIS Spring Meetings in Portoroz, Slovenia, the Council also validated the final Alpine Ski World Cup calendar for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.
Next year the Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Austria), and two years later in 2027 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.