IPC Nordic Skiing confirmed on Thursday (29 October) the new membership of its Sport Technical Committee (STC), the group responsible for ensuring the continued growth and progress of the sport in the four years ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.
The group of six members includes former athletes, classification and technical experts and will be led by Rob Walsh, who continues his role as Chairperson after the huge success of March's winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Walsh, a former para-Nordic skier, identified the main targets for the STC in the years that will take in PyeongChang 2018 and two World Championships - one in Cable, Wisconsin, USA, from 23 January - 1 February 2015 and one in 2017.
"We need to continue to progress the programme and the sport events but one of our main objectives is to get new athletes and grow the impact of the sport around the world.
"Sochi brought a lot of publicity to the Paralympics including cross-country skiing and biathlon, so that exposure gives us an opportunity and a platform on which we can build, expand and gain participants."
Walsh will be supported in his role by a newly appointed Vice Chairperson, American John Farra. Farra is an Olympian in cross-country skiing and is the current High Performance Director of US Paralympics Nordic Skiing.
Len Apedaile, Tor Undheim and Dia Pernot were all re-appointed, though Apedaile will change his role to Head of Technical Control, replacing Hans Peter Neeser who served on the STC for over 15 years. Russian Aleksey Kobelev, an Olympian and World Champion biathlete, joins the STC as the new Head of Biathlon, taking over from Kaspar Wirz who will continue to support the Movement in a variety of ways.
Canadian Colette Bourgonje, a six-time Paralympian, will also continue as the athlete liaison.
The IPC Nordic Skiing STC is responsible for the development and revision of the sport's rules, as well as ensuring the sport fulfils its strategic plan for 2013-16.
Recently IPC Nordic Skiing confirmed the 2014-15 calendar, which will include the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin, USA, and feature over 150 athletes from 20 countries.
There will also be the first ever cross-country World Cup event in Japan as well as cross-country and biathlon World Cups in Europe.
More information, including the full details of the STC membership, can be found at www.ipc-nordicskiing.org and www.cable2015.com.
For further information, please contact Lucy Dominy, IPC Public Relations and Campaigns Manager on e-mail: lucy.dominy@paralympic.org or call +49-228-2097-159. Alternatively, please visit www.ipc-nordicskiing.org or www.ParalympicSport.TV.
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