500 Million Viewers to Enjoy Bulgaria's Bansko World Cup Starts

Austrians Mario Matt (C,first place), his teammate Reinfried Herbst (L,second place) and France Jean-Baptiste Grange (R,thirth place) celebrate on the podium after the Men`s Slalom World Cup competition at the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko, Bulgaria, on

The alpine skiing World Cup starts for men and women scheduled to take place in Bulgaria's winter resort Bansko will be watched by more than 500 million viewers from all over the world, the Bulgarian Ski Federation has estimated.

Over 40 000 spectators are expected to watch the events live in person, according to the BGNES news agency. The two men's starts scheduled for February 18 and 19 2012 (Giant Slalom and Slalom) are expected to gather the top 100 performers in the two disciplines for the World Cup.

The two starts were originally scheduled to take place in Japan, but were canceled due to the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster in the Asian country in March 2011.

Bansko will also host the Women World Cup Slalom and Super Giant Slalom races on February 25 and 26. A total of 80 female skiers are to participate in the two prestigious events.

Bulgaria's top winter destination has become one of only 11 resorts in the world which have the privilege to host both men's and women's starts in one season.

The other 10 are Soelden (Aut), Levi (Fin), Val d'Isere (Fr), Lake Louise (Can), Munich (Ger), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Ger), Moscow (Rus), Zagreb (Cro), Sochi (Rus) and Schladming (Aut), where the finals of 2011/2012 season are to be held.

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