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A23
SPORTS Saturday 29 February 2020
Ski racing community starts to back away from toxic wax

By LISA RATHKE fered any health problems
Associated Press from all that exposure to
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — At the wax. "The jury's going
ski races across the United to start coming back with
States, competitors are a verdict in the next couple
starting to abandon a type of years about what that
of wax many count on for meant for them," said Jeff
speed amid concerns it Clarke, a former U.S. cross-
contains potentially haz- country ski team director
ardous chemicals that who is now coaching the
threaten human health Stowe Middle/High School
and could reach streams Nordic team in Vermont.
and other critical ground- Snowboarders, too, are
water sources. shifting away from wax
The International Ski Feder- containing PFAS.
ation, the governing body U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the
for international skiing, an- national governing body
nounced plans to ban the for Olympic skiing and
use of fluorinated waxes in snowboarding, said it sup-
all disciplines next season. ports the International Ski
Those waxes contain per- Federation ban. Races be-
fluoroalkyl and polyfluoro- low the World Cup level
alkyl substances, collec- "have already taken action
tively known as PFAS. They This Feb. 8, 2020, photo shows a waxing table at a cross-country ski race at U-32 Middle & High to limit and discourage the
are commonplace in the School in East Montpelier, Vt. Associated Press use of PFAS-containing ski
environment and have waxes," said spokesperson
been linked to a growing age 16 two years ago. other is, anything that kind season, and in Maine, high Lara Carlton.
list of health problems. That leaves skiers to use hy- of evens the playing field fluoro waxes were banned While coaches say they
Nordiq Canada, the gov- drocarbon waxes on their is good to me. It should be at the state championship. are ready for a ban, until
erning body for cross-coun- skis. the athletes racing, not the Wax technicians, coaches the International Ski Fed-
try skiing in Canada, also "I'm very happy with the skis racing." and athletes have been eration rules go into effect
prohibited high and me- decision not to use it," said The move to shift away heating the so-called fluo- the waxes still will be used
dium fluorinated waxes in Sverre Caldwell, direc- from those particular waxes ro waxes with irons on the in national races, and they
most cross-country races tor of the SMS T2 team of goes well beyond the pro- base of skis and then scrap- worry about how the ban
this season. The Norwegian elite cross-country ski rac- fessional circuit and the ski- ing it off for years — often will be enforced.
Ski Association, meanwhile, ers, including U.S. Ski Team ers themselves. In Vermont, in wax rooms and trailers The waxes make a bigger
banned the use of fluori- members, based at Strat- the VPA Nordic High School before a race. Many now difference in cross-country
nated glide wax — used in ton Mountain in Vermont. Coaches Association de- wear masks and work in skiing, particularly in warm-
both classic and skate ski- "For two reasons: one is the cided to stop using all flu- highly ventilated areas and er conditions, than in alpine
ing — for all athletes under potential danger and the orinated glide waxes this wonder if they have suf- skiing, coaches say. q

NCAA

Continued from Page 17 the process out," Shaw said. being added as a legal jersey number.
The committee said it was concerned about In regards to flopping, no one wants game of-
Proposals must be approved by the NCAA "negative interactions" between teams before ficials to be required to determine the validity
playing rules oversight panel, which is sched- officials are on the field during pregame. There and severity of a player's potential injury.
uled to discuss changes April 16. New rules were notable pregame incidents last season The committee discussed requiring players
would go into effect for the upcoming season. where players had to be separated before who come out of the game after an injury
Adjustments were made last year to the re- Texas-Oklahoma and the Belk Bowl between timeout to sit out more than the one play that
play review process for targeting in an effort Kentucky and Virginia Tech. The Belk Bowl al- is currently required, possibly four plays or the
to have fewer marginal fouls called. Shaw said tercation came before officials were on the rest of an offensive possession. But that could
feedback was good and no further adjust- field. encourage players to try to play through legiti-
ments were made to a rule that often draws In addition to having officials' jurisdiction begin mate injuries, Steve Shaw said.
complaints from players, coaches and fans. earlier, each team would be required to have "We didn't want to incent a guy if he's injured
The only potential change to targeting could a coach on the field when players go through not to come out," Steve Shaw said.
come after the ejection. Players have been pregame warmups. Plus, players would be re- Steve Shaw said the plan is to ask coaches
required to leave the field after being ejected, quired to wear numbers during warmups so to police themselves in regards to coaching
usually escorted off by a coach or staffer in they can be identified. players to fake injuries. If it persists, the commit-
full view of fans. If the proposal passes, ejected "It's a bad look for our game," said Stanford tee will re-address it next year and could be
players will be allowed to stay on the sideline coach David Shaw, the chairman of the rules forced to crack down.
with teammates, eliminating the so-called committee. "Some of these pregame she- David Shaw said the word will be spread
walk of shame. nanigans that have gone on, we want to curb through the American Football Coaches Asso-
Shaw said the two-minute limit for replay re- some of those." ciation and he hopes coaches will hold each
views is aimed at efficiency and trying to man- The committee also recommended no more other accountable. The committee will also
age the length of games. He said there was than two players on a team can wear the ask conferences to monitor.
an average of 2.2 replays per game at the FBS same jersey number. Rules already require "For us as coaches, it's a tactic that lacks integ-
level. players wearing the same number play differ- rity." David Shaw said. "It was evident enough
"If you're at two minutes and you don't know ent positions and can not be on the field at for us to talk about. It was a bad enough look
the answer, it's time to let it stand and not drag the same time. The committee proposed zero for us to talk about."q