FIS Nordic Ski World Championships 1991 - RAI Broadcast Opening Sequence
Copyright (c) 1991 Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) and International Ski Federation
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships were a Nordic skiing event sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The event was launched in 1925 as the Rendezvous races, and it was in 1937 that the Nordic Ski World Championships were officially referred to by its present name.
In its early years, the event was initially taken place annually - even in Winter Olympic years, but after World War II, the Championships were held every four years from 1950 to 1982. Ever since 1985, the meet was staged biennially in odd-numbered years.
Held between 7 and 17 February 1991, the 27th FIS Nordic Ski World Championships took place at Fiemme, which is one of the main valleys of the Dolomites in northeastern Italy.
For these 1991 Championships that were the first to take place in the south side of the Alps - virtually in the Mediterranean area and in Trentino province, the event exceeded all expectations; it attracted 180,739 spectators during these Championships.
Years and months prior to the event came the fall of the wall in 1989 and Germany's eventual reunification a year later in 1990, and this edition of the World Championships sought a unified German team officially compete for the first time since 1939.
There were some lasts at Fiemme, however. Yugoslav ski jumper Franci Petek won his only career gold medal at the World Championships, but his gold turned out to be his country's only medal at the meet before Yugoslavia plunged into war that led to its breakup in 1992. Lyubov Yegorova, who triumphed in the women's 30km freestyle cross-country race, ended up becoming the last Soviet athlete to win the gold at the Nordic Ski World Championships; the USSR dissolved months later on 26 December that same year.
