The first FIS Alpine race of the 2023-24 season took place at Sölden this past weekend, which wasn’t without its fair share of controversy. For one, there was the back-and-forth bickering between FIS and Protect Our Winters over the alleged removal of glacier ice for the World Cup event. The second controversy was the implementation of a new FIS rule.
The Associated Press reports that Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway was disqualified from the first women’s FIS World Cup race of the 2023-24 season. The reason for her being thrown out of the race was the usage of fluro-wax. For the past few decades, fluorinated wax has been used due to its ability to make skis go faster down the slope. This season, FIS has a new rule that bans fluorinated wax from competitions due to its effects on the environment. The race was ultimately won by Lara Gut-Behrami, with Mikaela Shiffrin finishing in sixth place.
Ragnhild’s disqualification happened after her first run, where she was in sixth place. The skis are being inspected by FIS, which is where they found that the amount of fluorinated wax on her Head skis surpassed their limits.
Mowinckel said the following to Norway’s TV 2 after the disqualification:
“We must find out what happened. We are not trying to cheat, because that is the worst thing for me.”
Peter Gerdol, who’s the International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s women’s race director, defended their decision to disqualify Mowinckel:
“This was the only ski that showed quite a high value, way more than the minimum threshold, so the jury had no other option than to disqualify the athlete.”
Mowinckel is a tenured veteran in the ski racing world. Since entering the World Cup circuit in 2012, she has won three races and has gotten podium finishes twelve other times. In the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she got two silver medals.
It’ll be interesting to see who else gets disqualified due to this new rule during this World Cup season.
Image Credits: Ötztal Tourismus/Bergbahnen Sölden, Ragnhild Mowinckel
