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HAHNENKAMM RACES IN THE 2ND PANDEMIC WINTER

A LOOK BACK OVER THE 82ND HAHNENKAMM RACES 2022
in a bad dream, the buoyant mood deteriorated visibly from summer to autumn. In terms
of the races, autumn went perfectly according to plan, but in terms of spectators, one piece
THANKS, RECOGNITION & CONGRATULATIONS of bad news followed the next. Time and again, the start of ticket sales had to be
Only when each individual in a group can truly identify with a shared endeavour, does postponed.
something as extraordinary as the successful staging of the 82nd Hahnenkamm Races
2022 come about. Against all weather odds. NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2021 - THE RUN-UP TO WINTER
In this respect, one can no longer speak of functionaries, but of friends working together The virus returned with a vengeance on All Saints‘ Day! Tyrol was again classified with
towards a shared objective. Race organisation and execution was of the highest world- the highest alarm rating in the Corona statistics at the beginning of November. Constant
class standards and could not have gone any better. A fact impressively affirmed by new and ever-increasing official restrictions followed at 10-day intervals, with massive
the winners from Norway, Great Britain as well as Switzerland. The hastily introduced constraints on everyday life and work, always with the aim of preventing the continued
spectator restrictions triggered by the Austrian Covid 19 pandemic regulation system spread of the virus, now entering its second pandemic winter.
were, however, an unfortunate and unforeseen development. The only difference was that more prerequisite requirements were necessary, such as
The required spatial segregation of the 82nd Hahnenkamm Races into separate sport- the 2G Plus rule (vaccinated, recovered and additionally PCR-tested), as well as the
ing and spectator events, demanded at short notice by the authorities, could - to put it familiar face mask obligation and the usual curfews. Consistently cold temperatures for
mildly - be best described as “unfortunate“. The resultant and unanimous opinion: May creating artificial snow at the end of November and regular natural snowfall, however,
the Hahnenkamm Races once again unite as a single entity for sports and spectators provided a glimmer of hope, which only ended with the Christmas thaw typical for our
under the direction of KSC and its OC! Nonetheless, GREAT THANKS are due to all region.
those who contributed to the sporting success with their almost superhuman efforts, Accompanied by the most wonderful winter weather, another Austria-wide lockdown
and all those who did an INCREDIBLE job in making inhospitable conditions as plea- from the end of November to mid-December heralded a new low point in public morale,
sant as possible for the spectators. which could not even be improved by the anticipation of Christmas.
After the great summer freedom for hosting events, new laws were introduced and
SUMMER 2021 - LONG-TERM PREPARATIONS spectator numbers at events limited to a maximum of 4,000, exclusively on numbered
The division into a separate sport and a spectator event, necessitated for the first time and allocated seats now applied to the Hahnenkamm Races. In a frenzy of activity,
in the history of the Hahnenkamm Races at short notice because of new Covid 19 those in charge tried to reschedule everything in December in order to achieve at least
protection laws, affected the entire preparation period. While it was clear that the a fraction of the permitted spectators. After all the preliminary work since summer had
sporting event could always take place regardless of pandemic developments, this been geared towards welcoming 25,000 spectators (2,000 seated, 23,000 stand-
was never the case with regards to the issue of spectators and guests. Thus, intensive ing!), this fundamental change was a completely unexpected surprise for everyone.
organisational preparations were made to fulfil all potential Covid 19 requirements A relatively „easy“ exercise for stadium sports like football, but a big and expensive chal-
as early as summer 2021. For the first time ever, ticket sales with seat numbering in the lenge for winter sports events in a natural setting. It soon became clear that with the
stands were planned and, again for the first time, a limit was set on the total number of new virus protection regulations, no large social evenings could take place and thus no
spectators alongside the course and in the finish area. This was only made possible by sponsor marquee could be allowed to happen. For this reason, the first decision to
a switch from on-site box office ticket sales, to advance online ticket sales. What may cancel had to be made in mid-December, with much regret and great financial loss on
sound simple, however, involved six months of intensive preparation work. The „ goal „ the part of the KSC sponsor agency WWP. Anyone who thought that this was the only
was a total of 25,000 on site spectators throughout the entire event, which is only half surprise was quickly proven wrong, because the next restriction followed just two days
the usual attendance rate of race Saturday alone. before Christmas. Spectators are now only allowed on numbered seats, with spectator
As no official upper limits for spectators attending sporting events had been set either in capacity being reduced again to 500, 1,000 or 2,000 persons, depending on the
summer or autumn, the outlook remained optimistic throughout. In retrospect, and as if G-status. Hastily drawn-up plans to expand the grandstands were once again jettiso-
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