Under Kasper, FIS achieved unprecedented growth
By Tom Kelly
August 22nd, 2021
It was a hot June day at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya – midday break during the 59th FIS Congress at Barcelona in 2014. While the FIS Council and 1,100 delegates were off to power lunches, International Ski Federation President Gian Franco Kasper stood alone in the concrete entryway, smoking cigarettes and giving an occasional hello to passers by, a rare moment of time alone with his own thoughts.
At his core, Kasper was a simple, modest man – an atypical international sports federation leader. His entire adult life was enraptured around the sport of skiing. In a 46-year career with FIS, first as secretary general during the tenure of President Marc Hodler and later as the organization’s president since 1998, he was at the helm while a tiny sports organization grew into one of the most highly regarded entities in Olympic sport.
Kasper, 77, died July 9 after a hospitalization in Zürich less than five weeks after his successor was named. In the time since his passing, luminaries of the Olympic sports world have weighed in on his career and the impact of his long tenure.
FIS staff remembered him for his always-open door and morning coffee breaks at the Oberhofen headquarters. Journalists recalled his storytelling and quotability, sometimes not so flattering. Sport insiders spoke of his cunning negotiating skills – the consummate politician who knew how to get things done. His son knew him as a devoted husband and father who truly cared about getting kids on skis. Like any leader, he had his detractors. But few would argue with the accomplishments that took place in skiing across his nearly half-century tenure.
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Posted from SkiRacing.com
