Marius Robyr, a "happy and proud" president

Despite the vagaries of the past week, Marius Robyr was smiling once again at the end of the World Cup weekend in Crans-Montana. The president of the Organising Committee was especially pleased with the huge public celebrations over the weekend and the great race on Sunday.

"I'm not going to lie to you, at 11am on Sunday morning I was tense. I was afraid that we were going to have a repeat of Saturday." Marius Robyr's weekend was not a relaxing one. It has to be said that the weather this week wasn’t really on the side of the organisers in Valais. After over ten days of very high temperatures, fog played a nasty trick in Crans-Montana on Saturday, forcing a chain of postponements before an inevitable cancellation. The scenario was almost repeated on Sunday. Although it was much colder, with temperatures well below zero, the sky was not that clear.

In the end, it was possible to start the downhill in Crans-Montana, half an hour late. "I was embarrassed to announce further postponements," says Marius Robyr, all too aware of the difficulties of putting on such an event. "But at the end of the day, you have a happy and proud president in front of you now." Because the event on Sunday was indeed a regular one for all the competitors, and it showed the world a spectacular Mont Lachaux piste, true to its reputation. "The conditions were good, we wouldn't have been reckless sending the forerunners and skiers out. "

The icing on the cake was that the best downhill skier in the world, Sofia Goggia, won ahead of her compatriot Federica Brignone, who loves Crans-Montana. "It was an absolutely magnificent race," continued the boss of the event. "It's a great reward for the 520 people who have worked day and night to put on these competitions. It’s also splendid to be able to thank the 30,000 or so spectators who were present over the weekend."