Alpine skiing is the national sport in Austria, but the president of the nation’s ski federation is worried that the sport’s marquee event — the downhill — is at risk of being taken off the Olympic program as early as Beijing 2022.
“The athletes themselves refuse to believe it, but interest in the event is waning, and this is a real problem,” Austria ski federation president Peter Schrocksnadel said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Schrocksnadel said the downhill is not the best-suited discipline for TV.
At the Sochi Olympics, the men’s downhill start list included 50 skiers.