St. Imier (Switzerland) / Val d’Isère (France), 20 December 2014 – Longines was proud to present the Longines Future Ski Champions competition for the second year running. This event took place on Saturday, 20 December, in Val d’Isère, and gave thirteen female skiers under the age of 16 a chance to compete against each other under identical conditions to those of the professional. Carlotta Saracco, representing Italy, won the 2014 Longines Future Ski Champions title and was rewarded with a Longines timepiece during a prize-giving ceremony that took place in the center of Val d’Isère.
On 20 December 2014 Longines presented its Longines Future Ski Champions competition for the second consecutive year. This event, set up with the collaboration of the FIS, allows promising ski stars selected by their respective national skiing federation to compete against the best skiers in the world in their age category under racing conditions similar to those of the official World Cup races.
The first edition in 2013 gave the chance to fourteen young male skiers to take part to the competition. This year it was the turn of thirteen girls under the age of 16, from thirteen different countries, who had the opportunity to try two runs on the giant slalom piste. The competition was held alongside the women’s race in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup at Val d’Isère. The thirteen young racers used the lower section of the Daille run, the official piste for the women’s races.
Representing Italy, Carlotta Saracco was crowned the Longines Future Ski Champion 2014, with a time of 55:93 seconds. Second was Nella Korpio from Finland, followed by Ida Dannewitz from Sweden. All three received a medal during a prize-giving ceremony that took place in the center of Val d’Isère, with the presence of Charles Villoz, Vice President of Longines, Marcel Looze, FIS Marketing Manager and Jean-Claude Fritsch, former director of Val d’Isère Sports Club. The winning champion Carlotta Saracco received as well a Longines watch. Meanwhile, her national Federation, the Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali received a cheque for $20,000 to be used for promoting Alpine skiing among young people in that country.
This event was also an opportunity for Longines to present the Official Watch of the 2014/2015 skiing season, a 100th of a second chronograph, namely the Conquest 1/100th Alpine Skiing. This new model, fitted with a cutting-edge, exclusive movement, is a tribute by the brand to its long tradition of timing Alpine skiing competitions and enables its user to measure and display several intermediate times to one-hundredth of a second.
On the strength of its privileged links with the sports in which it is involved, Longines is keen to offer its support to the most promising sports talents in their discipline. Apart from its commitment to young skiers, the Swiss watch brand also organises a tennis tournament during the French Open fortnight at Roland Garros, namely the Longines Future Tennis Aces, as well as a race for young jockeys – the Prix Longines Future Racing Stars – held alongside the Prix de Diane Longines at the Chantilly Racecourse near Paris.
About Longines
Based in St. Imier, Switzerland, since 1832, the watch producer Longines boasts a know-how forged out of tradition, elegance and performance. With its long experience as a timekeeper for world championships and the partner of various international sports federations, Longines has, over the years, established close and lasting links with the world of sport. Renowned for the elegance of its timepieces, Longines is a member of the Swatch Group Ltd., the world’s leading manufacturer of horological products. With its famous winged hourglass logo, Longines has outlets in over 140 countries.