Over the weekend, it was reported that Gian-Franco Kasper, the former president of the International Ski Federation (FIS), died. Kasper stepped down from his role at FIS after serving the organization as president for 23 years. In total, Kasper worked 46 years for the organization. Newly elected FIS president, Johan Eliasch, memorialized Kasper in a press release. “Gian Franco Kasper was unique in the international sports community,” Eliasch said. “He built FIS from a small...
Gian Franco Kasper, President of FIS for the past 23 years stepped down earlier this month. Under his leadership, FIS grew to be the preeminent winter Olympic sport federation. Yet despite its growth, Kasper resisted most efforts to reform and modernize FIS, and he left the organization much as he found it. In 1975, FIS President Marc Holder needed a hand at FIS and brought in the then 29-year-old Kasper—who up to that point had...
FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, cleared 28 Russian athletes of doping charges. Many people seemed shocked by this development. The athletes had been disqualified from the 2014 Games by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Commission. This was after more than 18 months of buildup in which the world learnt of systematic manipulation of the anti-doping process by the Russian state security apparatus at those Olympics. I was both shocked, and not shocked. When all...
The International Ski Federation (FIS) 28 athletes being investigated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The cases were brought to light in the McLaren report, an investigation on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). “As a result of the current circumstances whereby the FIS competition season is in full swing and the competitions and sporting accomplishments of the athletes are being undermined by the shadow of the McLaren Investigation Report, the IOC has empowered FIS...
While reporting regarding systematic doping by Russian teams has been building up for several years, like meldonium, is a metabolic modulator which combats angina. Another athlete tested positive for “phthalates”, plasticizers which are sometimes used in IV bags and are often assumed to indicate blood transfusions. They are also, however, present in other kinds of packaging. In all of these cases the results were reported to WADA’s anti-doping test management system, ADAMS, as negative tests:...
With the number of athletes testing positive at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics now topping 100 and the second part of the McLaren report into state-sponsored doping in Russia dropping within a month, WADA agreed to a new system of sanctions for countries who do not comply with the World Anti-Doping Code. International Ski Federation President Gian Franco Kasper did not like it.
"Normally, if she is guilty, it is very clear that she should receive a 4-year ban," FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said in an interview with Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, while admitting that he had seen no evidence from the case.
Not such a great summer for the Norwegian Ski Federation and Martin Johnsrud Sundby; now add Therese Johaug to that list. In this podcast episode, FasterSkier Editor-at-Large Chelsea Little discusses these doping cases and the recent IOC meetings where much was discussed, but perhaps not so much decided upon. Have a listen.
Gian Franco Kasper believes that WADA seeking punishments for countries which do not comply with the WADA Code -- for instance, stopping them from hosting international competitions -- goes too far into the realm of "politics."
If the ski arenas currently under construction in Sochi, Russia, remain at their current size, the International Ski Federation is going to be unhappy with spectator capacity for Olympic ski competitions come 2014. International Ski Federation President and International Olympic Committee member Gian Franco Kasper criticized the venues for being unprepared for the Games based on his observations from last week’s site visit. At a Tuesday press conference in Cavalese, Italy, for the Val di...
The International Ski Federation (FIS) will consider further sanctions against the Russian Ski Association this weekend at its autumn council meetings in Oberhofen, Switzerland. After withholding some $185,000 in funding from the Russians at its June meetings in response to a string of anti-doping rules violations, FIS officials will now consider whether to levy additional fines or even strip the country’s membership rights—though such measures are unlikely, according to Luke Bodensteiner, the U.S. Ski and...
After more than a half dozen doping cases among Russian skiers in the last two years, the International Ski Federation (FIS) will consider sanctions against the country at its upcoming meetings in Turkey next week. Under FIS rules, Russia’s athletes and coaches could be banned from participating in races, events scheduled in the country could be cancelled, or its officials could be stripped of voting rights at future meetings. In an e-mail to FasterSkier, FIS...