The FIS Camp for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined was held in Rasnov

The camp brought together representatives from Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia, and Latvia, totaling 37 athletes (19 male and 18 female), along with 10 coaches and FIS representatives, including Sandro Sambugaro, Paolo Bernardi, Margarita Sokolova, and Sandra Schwarzbauer, along with Constantin Andrei from the local OC in Romania.

The ski jumping center, equipped with hills ranging from k20 to k90 and accessible by chair lift, proved to be an ideal setting for the FIS Camp, well-supported by the Romanian Ski Federation, led by Constantin Andrei. Each team had cabins at their disposal, as well as a ski preparation facility. Despite some initial concerns during a prior inspection of the jumping hills, the conditions were excellent and safe during the camp. The Romanian Ski Federation also provided two nine-seater minibusses to transport teams from the hotel to the jumping hill, located approximately 4 km away.

The weather remained favorable throughout the camp, and the schedule was strictly adhered to, with a rest day and a swimming pool session organized on Thursday afternoon. Each day featured two jumping training sessions, totaling seven sessions in all. Paolo Bernardi was consistently present on the k65 jumping hill, where the highest number of athletes trained, offering his expertise and assistance to the various team coaches. Sandro Sambugaro oversaw operations on the k35 jumping hill. Athletic training sessions took place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, with older athletes working with Paolo Bernardi and Margarita Sokolova, and younger ones with Sandra Schwarzbauer on Friday. The sessions focused on explosiveness, elasticity, and coordination and conditioning skills, with a daily warm-up from 7.30 to 8.00 a.m.

Overall, the camp was a success, with many promising young athletes demonstrating their potential. However, it was emphasized that further development and training within their home teams and federations would be crucial to their growth as strong athletes.

The New Star Cup race, organized by the Romanian Ski Federation on Saturday, October 7, was well-executed, with prizes awarded to the top three male and female athletes in each category.

Gratitude was extended to Paolo Bernardi for his professionalism and contributions to the hill, athletic training, and technical discussions with coaches, Margarita Sokolova for her assistance in translations and stretching exercises, Sandra Schwarzbauer for her support, and Constantin Andrei and the Romanian Ski Federation for their logistics and organization of the FIS Camp.

Each evening, after dinner, coaches met to discuss the day's events and the challenges related to the athletes' ongoing technical training at home, particularly for those teams without access to jumping hills in their countries. In general, the coaches expressed satisfaction with the FDC system, with Georgia and Ukraine requesting longer camps of 10 days due to the distances they had to travel. Other teams were content with the 6-7 day format. In the final meeting, it was announced that the next FIS Camp, subject to FIS approval, would take place in Val di Fiemme in the second week of January 2024.