ALPINE SKI. SCHLADMING, Austria -- FIS Chief of Race Gunter Hujara at the captain's meeting here tonight shut down any rumors spread by media, coaches, and teams regarding whether Marcel Hirscher had straddled gates in the Zagreb and Adelboden slalom races.

According to Hujara's detailed review of the races in question, Hirscher did not straddled any gates. Neither did Zagreb's second place finisher Felix Neureuther, who was rumored to have also straddled in Zagreb.

At the captain's meeting, Hujara invited coaches and media to look at the high tech video he and the jury review after any race where there has been a protest or an issue has arisen like this controversy that emerged over the weekend in Kitzbuhel. Hujara took the on-lookers through his step-by-step process to analyze the video. He said at first the jury looks at the TV feed in normal speed, then slow motion, then they will zoom into the feet, and then zoom even more—at each step, slowly watching the skier in short sequences ski around the gate.

“It is not the case that we live in the stone age,” he told media and coaches, “and it's not the case that we have gate keepers who are too old and do not see something. We go case by case and that's what we want to show you.”

He added: “We use the highest technology with the highest definition because we always use the host broadcaster's production van where they have everything prepared for us. What you see on your TV screen is not what we can see and do in the production van.”

The Straddle Gate controversy had escalated by Sunday afternoon as word spread to Ivica Kostelic that Hirscher had gotten away with straddling gates in the Zagreb and Adelboden slalom.

Kostelic, after winning the combined on Sunday and placing third in the slalom, publicly told media about his disappointment with Hirscher if he had straddled a gate and hadn't stopped racing. Austrian coaches reviewed the TV feed in slow motion, and also confirmed that their athlete had straddled a gate. Hirscher, in response, told media that there should be analysis of the races and he supports any new changes to gate rules by FIS.

Hirscher reached out to Kostelic on Sunday evening, and this morning, they met to talk out the problem. Each have apologized for any wrongdoing. Kostelic accused Hirscher of bad sportsmanship, and Hirscher said Kostelic shouldn't have spoken out after the race on Sunday. At the public bib draw tonight, they were seen shaking hands.

Hujara confirmed tonight that the correct decisions were made on the race days. When he pointed the gate out to the coaches and media during his first step in analysis (normal TV speed), most agreed how difficult it was to tell from that speed whether Hirscher straddled or not. Then he slowed the footage down, and coaches said it was still very difficult to see.

His third step is to zoom in on the feet and gate. Here he explained what he was looking for: movement of the pole, bases of the skis, whether the gate was behind the skier (no straddle) or in front (a straddle), and the direction the gate moved after the athlete had passed it.

His fourth step is to zoom in even farther where only the boots are visible on the entire screen. He watches the sequences as he stops the footage to see where the moving parts are.

“This is high tech, high tech, high tech and can only be seen on TVs in production vans,” Hujara said. “If there is no resolution or definition on your screen, it could look like a disqualification could be the case."

“I think we all agree that's no DQ,” he said after analyzing Hirsher's run in Zagreb. “I wanted to show you what the jury does in cases of disqualification. ...I think it was clear tonight and should calm down some discussion.”

In other news, the super G that was canceled in Kitzbuhel has not been rescheduled. Hujara said a decision will be made after the Garmisch events this weekend. “It's always about overload of the calendar and this is a situation that we have to stick to our principles,” Hujara said about why he didn't want to add it to the program in Garmisch. However, there is discussion of having it added to the Crans-Montana or Kvitfjell events. The decision will be made after Garmisch.

By Vanessa Pierce
FISalpine.com
Monday 23 January 2012