Méribel chosen candidate to co-host World Ski Championships 2023
Favoured ski resorts Méribel and Courchevel will partner up to bid to host the eminent Alpine Skiing World Championships in 2023.
Nominated back in October last year, Méribel-Courchevel has beaten out rival resorts Chamonix and Val d’Isère to win their bid to bring the prestigious tournament here. Meaning those visiting the area on ski holidays in France in 2023 may well share the slopes with global champions during their stay.
Organisers, The French Ski Federation, announced their decision over the weekend electing the Three Valleys resorts as being ideally situated and with ample facilities to accommodate the event.
If you’re hoping to escape for a winter sports break to the luxury ski chalets in Méribel, you won’t be disappointed by the volume of competitions on offer for spectators should the French Alps win its bid.
France has hosted the global contest twice before: Grenoble in 1968 and more recently Val D’Isère took on the mantle in 2009. Now the Mèribel-Courchevel partnership must wait while other candidate resorts around the world put in their bids to host the Alpine Skiing Championships 2023. The final winning resort is expected to be announced in 2018.
While it’s yet to be confirmed, Méribel is likely to welcome the world’s top female skiers, hosting both the downhill and super-G women’s speed events should the Three Valleys win the bid. The resort is also set to present the super-combined, team events and men’s technical events including the giant slalom.
Following the French Ski Federation’s good news on Saturday, Méribel Sports Deputy Thierry Carroz said:
“We are very happy. We now have a real challenge: there is work to be done. We will start work straight away this week, in order to put forward a winning bid in 2018.
“Only Austria is opposing us. The biggest work project will be la Chaudanne and the infrastructure around the finish area. As far as the pistes are concerned, there is not much to modify as the work was done for the World Cup Finals in 2015.
“For us, it’s a real project for the resort which will allow us to restructure the Olympic Centre and that will last for the next 30 to 50 years.”
The popular event is likely to get booked up fast but with seven years to go, there’s no time like the present to start planning your next trip to get some practice in before the games begin in 2023!
Image Credit: Christian Jansky (Wikimedia.org)