At first glance, the story might seem anecdotal. She is not. A Swiss slalom skier of British origin, Olympic and world champion in the team event, has decided to distribute half of his World Cup prizes to an association in favor of climate protection. With this gesture, he stands in opposition to the president of the International Ski Federation, his compatriot Gian Franco Kasper.
Facts. Daniel Yule, 26, a Valaisan with the shoulders of an iron lifter (photo above), announced on his Twitter account that he was donating half of the “prize money” pocketed during the next two World Cup races, on 10 March in Kranjska Gora, then a week later in Soldeu, to the American NGO Protect Our Winters.
« After the FIS president denied the existence of climate change, I decided to donate half of my scholarships won at two World Cup stages in Kransjka Gora and Andorra to the organization @protectourwintersswitzerland,” wrote the Swiss slalomer.
As a reminder, Gian Franco Kasper created controversy, last month, explaining during an interview with a Swiss daily that global warming was a pure invention.
The environmental association Protect Our Winters was quick to react, going so far as to demand the resignation of Gian Franco Kasper, 74, president of the FIS since 1988. The Swiss leader responded by asserting that he had been cited out of context.
At the time, Daniel Yule had already taken a stand against Gian Franco Kasper. “ If he visited us once during training in the summer, he would see how much our glaciers are melting and how the future of skiing is threatened. he explained daily View.
Since then, the Swiss has decided to walk his talk. For your information, a victory in the World Cup brings in 45.000 Swiss francs, or around 40.000 euros. Daniel Yule says he is ready to sacrifice half, provided he achieves a great performance during the last two slaloms of the season.
During the winter, in Madonna di Campiglio, he won his first World Cup slalom. He was an Olympic gold medalist at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, then a world gold medalist last month in Are, in the mixed team parallel slalom event.
Daniel Yule's position against his own institution, the FIS, is not isolated. His decision to give up part of his possible bonuses was welcomed by the Swede Andre Myhrer, Olympic slalom champion. The American Ted Ligety, twice gold medalist at the Games, also supported the Swiss skier on social networks. “ It’s time for our leadership to get real and move forward.”, he suggested on his Twitter account.
Clearly, times are changing in the Olympic world. More and more athletes are openly expressing their disagreements with their institutions. They take a stand. Above all, they act.
At the end of the year, several Olympic and world medal-winning swimmers have filed a complaint against FINA in a Florida court, as part of an antitrust class action. They criticized their international federation for having banned the organization in Italy of a meeting of the ISL, a competing private organization.
More recently, a British track rider, Callum Skinner, Olympic champion at the Rio 2016 Games, teamed up with a former director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Canadian Rob Koehler, to create a new organization intended to carry the voice of athletes. Global Athlete, its name, aims to be independent from the institutions of the international sports movement.
German athletes won a decisive victory, last month, by obtaining from a jurisdiction in their country the relaxation of rule 40.3 of the Olympic charter. A victory over the IOC and its rules concerning image rights and advertising during the Games.
In all cases, a common denominator: a certain fed up of athletes with sports leaders and institutions. ASOIF noted this in its recent report on the state of the sports movement and its future: the gap is widening between one and the other. A trend that could well grow.
