PARIS (AFP) — The Austrian ski resort of Schladming was awarded the rights to host the 2013 world alpine skiing championships on Thursday giving Austria the championships for the ninth time.
It will be the second time that it has hosted the event, having done so in 1982 and gives Austria some consolation for Salzburg losing out to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi for the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Schladming hosts a night-time World Cup slalom each year which is attended by 50,000 spectators.
The Austrian resort beat off opposition from Italy's Cortina d'Ampezzo, Beaver Creek/Vail in the United States and Swiss resort of St Moritz.
Schladming won in the first round of voting at the FIS conference in the rather unlikely setting of Cape Town, South Africa, winning 10 votes ahead of the American bid, who garnered four, while St Moritz and Cortina won one apiece.
Schladming had already lost out for the 2009 and 2011 editions, French resort Val d'Isere winning the 2009 championships while Garmisch-Partenkirchen of Germany will host them in 2011.
The 2013 Nordic world championships were awarded to Italian candidate Val di Fiemme.
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