New Measures for Ski Racer Safety

The FIS Council has reviewed a plan built on two key pillars:

• Enhancing safety standards
• Promoting education and culture change

It follows some recent fatal accidents in alpine skiing:

• Athlete safety moves to top of agenda after racer death

• Italian ski racer dies after training crash in Chile

Matteo Franzoso is the third Italian skier to die in less than a year.

• Young Italian ski racer dies in training accident

Then in March, Marco Degli Uomini, who was 18, died while testing the course for a regional children’s race.

A month later, Margot Simond, who was a promising 18-year-old French skier, died in a training crash, too.

• Promising French ski racer dies in training accident

Gurgl World Cup. Image © PlanetSKI

Key actions in the new initiative include:

• Conducting a detailed audit of homologated Downhill training courses worldwide to ensure full compliance with the highest safety requirements. This process is set to be completed by the FIS Spring Meetings in May 2026.
• Updating safety guidelines across all levels – national and international – and introducing strict safety protocols for both training and competition.
• Enforcing the mandatory use of protective equipment, such as airbags, not only in competition but also during training sessions.
• Establishing a specialist workstream, led by Chief Race Directors Markus Waldner and Peter Gerdol, tasked with developing, testing, and submitting new proposals to further raise Alpine Skiing’s safety standards. The aim is to have these proposals approved for implementation in the 2026/27 season.

Education and culture change

To embed a stronger culture of safety throughout the sport, FIS will:

• Launch an education program aimed at fostering cultural change across the Alpine Skiing landscape. Several initiatives are already underway, including dedicated speed clinics for athletes and coaches.
• Consult with athletes, coaches, organizers, and safety specialists to assess additional initiatives and processes to make safety practices more effective.

“Alpine Skiing is, by definition, a high-risk sport – that will never change. What must continue to evolve is the safety culture surrounding it, at every level and in both competition and training,” said FIS President Johan Eliasch.

Improving athlete safety is a shared responsibility – of FIS, National Ski Associations, athletes, coaches, and organizers. FIS is committed to lead by example, setting the highest standards and driving positive change across our sport.– Johan Eliasch, FIS President

Roadmap approved for implementation of the FIS Eligibility Policy

Having recently agreed on the principle of relying on SRY testing to determine eligibility for men’s and women’s competitions, the FIS Council has now approved a roadmap to implement the FIS Eligibility Policy.

FIS will begin immediately by gathering feedback from National Ski Associations and athletes – particularly regarding testing procedures.

This input will help shape detailed guidelines for the final version of the policy, which is expected to be approved by the Council and distributed to NSAs by April 2026.

The policy is scheduled to take effect in July 2026, with a phased rollout beginning at the FIS World Championships before being introduced at the FIS World Cup level in the 2027/28 season.

FIS strengthens leadership with appointment of Marcus Hausen

To support these strategic and operational developments, FIS is reinforcing its administration and operational capacity with the appointment of Marcus Hausen to the President’s Office.

Hausen will join FIS as Head of Presidential Affairs and will also serve as Deputy Secretary General. He brings with him extensive experience from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where he served as Chief of Staff to the President of the IOC for 10 years. He will officially assume his new role at FIS on 1 December 2025.

In his new capacity, Hausen, reporting to the President of FIS, will be responsible for strategic planning and corporate development, aligning the federation’s operations with its strategic goals, ensuring that FIS’s long-term vision is effectively translated into concrete actions.

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