Cortina - Candidate
The International Ski Federation (FIS - www.fis-ski.com) has announced that three European ski resorts are bidding to host the 2017 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
By the May 1st 2011 deadline applications had been received from ?re in Sweden (which hosted the Championships as recently as 2007), Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy (which has hosted the Championships three times previously, including the second ever event in 1932, but not since the last time in 1956) and St. Moritz in Switzerland which has previously hosted the Championships on four occasions in 1938, 1948, 1974 and 2003 and has been an unsuccessful bidder in several recent contests to stage the event.
"Just weeks after the successful 2011 editions, FIS is happy to witness the continuing interest in the organization of the FIS World Championships. This high number of applications by several nations and world's premium resorts underlines the events' importance in the global sports calendar," commented FIS President Gian Franco Kasper.
The FIS Council will make the final decision on the organizers of the 2016/2017 FIS World Championships during the 2012 Congress week in Gangwon Province in Korea on 31st May 2012 but the three candidates need to submit fully detailed applications by 1st September this year.
Only one application was received to host the combined 2017 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships, so it looks like they'll probably be staged by Spain's Sierra Nevada .
The last World Championships were staged earlier this year in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany; the next will be in 2-013 at Schladming, Austria and in 2015 the Championships will return to regular host Vail and Beaver Creek in Colorado, USA.