Ski World Cup - interviews only allowed from a distance

Jens Richter is editor-in-chief at Since July 2020, the doctor and journalist has also been responsible as COO for business operations and the strategic development of

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Where is the line between caution and hysteria when dealing with the coronavirus? For fear of infection with the novel corona virus, the organizers of the La Thuile Ski World Cup have now put rules into force for journalists that are likely to lead to bizarre scenes.

(jr / dpa) Reporters, cameramen and photographers must therefore keep a minimum distance of one and a half meters during the interviews in the so-called mixed zone. Furthermore, the protective cover of microphones should be changed after each athlete.

The same distance rule applies to TV presenters of live broadcasts, to which the athletes are often asked during or after their race. Both interviewees should use different microphones.

Medals shine in the back room

In addition, all press conferences as well as the public winners' ceremonies and the allocation of start numbers have been canceled. Accredited journalists or guests of honor were also prohibited from shaking hands with the athletes in La Thuile in the Italian Aosta Valley.

There were no comparable regulations for the major flu waves of recent years. The flu virus is transmitted in a similar way as the pathogen causing the new lung disease COVID-19 and is considered to be equally infectious. In the particularly violent flu season in winter 2017, there were more than 110,000 confirmed flu cases in Germany alone. Over 600 people died.

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