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< Nov/Dec 2001
	Hotline
Ocoee’s World Slalom Championships Cancelled Competitors have mixed reactions to threat of terrorism

The world of slalom wasn’t immune to September’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. While the tragedy put a standstill on most major sporting events, it also forced the cancellation of the 2001 Slalom World Championships on Tennessee’s Ocoee River.

According to USA Canoe and Kayak Director Lisa Fish, the event’s cancellation was due primarily to a lack of security personnel. The majority of those personnel, including agents from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms, were pulled to other assignments in the wake of the attacks.

In addition, the decision was complicated by the fact that most of the international competitors were scheduled to arrive Sept. 11, and were consequently stranded en-route when U.S. airspace was closed. The International Canoe Federation (ICF), the sport’s governing body, in conjunction with other parties including the event’s permit-holder, the U.S. Forest Service, decided that it could not ensure a smooth and safe event. "It was not an easy decision because it affects so many people," says event organizer Ann Rymer. "There were just too many unknowns that would have made it difficult to adequately manage the event."

The decision was controversial, garnering criticism from many athletes who had been training for the event for years. Much of the criticism focused on the fact that the cancellation seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction since it was made on the same day as the attacks. "It is easy to put the entire loss in retrospect," says U.S. team member Scott Shipley. "There were many who lost much more that week than a simple race. However, the fact that the ICF would choose to end that race one day after such a tremendous tragedy--and not take the two full weeks in advance of our competition to figure out a solution--shows tremendous lack of resolve, creativity, or even common sense."

Many athletes and coaches, particularly in the international community, were more supportive. Says Australian Team Head Coach and five-time World K-1 champ Richard Fox, "I understand that people feel they should go about their daily lives to demonstrate resolve, but after the organizers explained what they were up against, most of us understood that it’s not that easy. We’re obviously tremendously disappointed."

The cancellation came just two weeks after the U.S. won its first World Cup medal of the season, with Rebecca Giddens winning the bronze in Wausau, Wis.

According to many slalom insiders, the cancellations could have far-reaching implications for U.S. slalom racing, which has struggled to find a national audience. Fox points out that the Olympic course has been largely unused since the ’96 Olympics and now will suffer from the public memory of this non-event. Says U.S. Team member and Olympic Gold Medalist Joe Jacobi: "Depending on how we move forward on this, it could either lead to the sport’s demise or to a restructuring and long-awaited shot-in-the-arm for slalom."

--Frederick Reimers