The '15 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships concluded Sunday after two weeks of action in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colo., and total attendance "will be close to 130,000 for races, 200,000 when including all of the other events," according to Randy Wyrick of the VAIL DAILY. Vail Valley Foundation President and '15 FIS Alpine Word Ski Championships Organizing Committee President Ceil Folz said, "If you look at our lists of goals, it looks like we met them all." FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis said, "I am thrilled with these World Championships. They certainly have exceeded our expectations." Lewis added that one of the "big takeaways" have been the crowds. Wyrick noted the on-site crowds "have been the largest ever in the U.S." (VAIL DAILY, 2/14). In N.Y., Bill Pennington reported FIS officials concluded their visit to Colorado "by talking about staging the championships in America more often." They also "may add more World Cup tour stops here," and a race in the northeast U.S. "is being considered." One main development off the course during the event "involved innovative broadcasting methods, which might have attracted new American viewers and prospective young ski racers." More than 70 hours of live coverage aired on U.S. television, and the broadcast crew "used as many as 200 camera positions to capture the racing over the two weeks." That included five "super-slow-motion cameras," while a camera "affixed to an overhead cable also followed racers down the racecourses for more than 800 yards." U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin said, "I never got to watch a world championships in this way growing up. I think a lot of kids sitting in living rooms across America will be inspired to try our sport." Lewis said that the '15 event will "leave a legacy for broadcasting of ski racing and that the Vail/Beaver Creek organizing committee had set a new standard for the championships in a variety of ways." Pennington noted FIS is "expected to discuss bringing the event back to Colorado in the future" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/16).
BIG EVENT FOR TEAM USA: In Vail, Chris Freud reported the U.S. team "did leave its mark" on the event this year, finishing second behind Austria with five total medals -- two Golds, one Silver and two Bronzes. The "enduring memory for American race fans" likely will be Shiffrin and Ted Ligety "winning on back-to-back days" (VAIL DAILY, 2/15). ESPN.com's Devon O'Neil noted the U.S.' medal total was the "second most in history behind the 2003 and 2005 worlds, and five more than Team USA won the last time the worlds were held here" in '99. It was the "first time in 16 years that skiing's biannual world championships took place on American snow," and the event "showcased the best of the sport" (ESPN.com, 2/15). The AP's Pat Graham noted the success of Team USA came despite several Olympic Gold medalists not having the "performances they were picturing." Bode Miller suffered a "horrific super-G wipeout in which he severed his right hamstring tendon." Meanwhile, it was a "rough worlds" for Julia Mancuso, and Lindsey Vonn only won a single Bronze medal, "not exactly the color she anticipated" (AP, 2/16).
