Val Gardena wins the 2031 World Championships in a last-minute vote by the international body

The host of the 2029 Alpine Skiing World Championships will be Narvik. The Norwegians secured the votes needed to surpass, by majority, the bids from Andorra and Val Gardena. It was a few minutes past 7 p.m. (9 p.m. in Andorra) when the president of the International Ski Federation (FIS), Johan Eliasch, announced the news from the Harpa Concert Hall Conference Center in Reykjavik (Iceland). This announcement could also be followed worldwide via live streaming on the FIS YouTube channel.

In a last-minute decision, after assessing the great potential of the three bids for 2029, the FIS decided to hold another vote for 2031. In this vote, the Italian station of Val Gardena surpassed Andorra with 14 votes to 6.

David Hidalgo, director of the Andorra 2029 bid, shared his thoughts after the result: "When politics takes precedence over reality, there are sometimes decisions that are totally unfair, as everyone has told us. We will continue to work to do our best." Regarding the decision to also award the 2031 World Championships, Hidalgo said: "I believe there was an intention not to leave Andorra empty-handed, but there are political components that, unfortunately, have prevailed." He added: "The team did an excellent job; it pains me because the country gave it their all."