Q&A: Bill Marolt – On Marc Hodler's legacy

USSA President/CEO Bill Marolt felt the influence of Marc Hodler at nearly every stage of his career in ski racing — as an Olympic racer in the 1960s, coach of the U.S. team in the 1980s, in his current position and as a member of the International Ski Federation Council.
    Marolt cited Hodler’s “ability to listen, to see opportunity and the ability to pull people together to work in a cohesive way” as a defining characteristic of Hodler.
    Marolt shared more of his thoughts on the death of Hodler with Ski Racing on Wednesday.
USSA PRESIDENT/CEO Bill Marolt felt the influence of Marc Hodler at nearly every stage of his career in ski racing — as an Olympic racer in the 1960s, coach of the U.S. team in the 1980s, in his current position and as a member of the International Ski Federation Council.
    Marolt cited Hodler’s “ability to listen, to see opportunity and the ability to pull people together to work in a cohesive way” as a defining characteristic of Hodler.
    Marolt shared more of his thoughts on the death of Hodler with Ski Racing on Wednesday.

Ski Racing: Marc Hodler undoubtedly had a big influence on you as a manager of skiing at the World Cup level and likely as a competitor in the 1960s. One of the more repeated character traits heard today from talking to a number of people who either worked with or alongside Hodler was how much of a facilitator and consensus builder he was. Would you agree?
Bill Marolt: For an individual to stay in that position for that long is a credit to his leadership, his ability to lead and to create and to make a difference not only for individuals but for all of the organizations that make up the International Ski Federation. With Marc, he was a true gentleman in every sense of the word and he was always willing to listen. Even if you walked away with not exactly what you wanted, you always felt that you made a difference in his thinking.
    And that’s true. This goes all the way back to when I was competing. I was competing in the ’60s. That was a long time ago, and in those years he was around and available. He not only ran the organization but encouraged athletes and coaches alike. He was a special individual.

SR: His longevity spans the roots of the World Cup all the way through the unprecedented growth and exposure the sport receives today. Comment on that longevity.
BM: World Cup skiing and what the FIS is is really unique in Olympic sports. It’s one of the few, and maybe the only, international federation that runs international race series on a yearly basis where at the end of every year you crown champions and have overall winners. There’s an ongoing story; that’s what makes the World Cup attractive. There’s stars that evolve, there are stars that continue and there are stars that move on. There’s always great stories around what happens at the World Cup. It’s one of our greatest advantages that we have that organization. … I think any organization that intends to have long-term success and longevity, you have to look at people who are part of the foundation and respect those people who’ve come before you. We all have tremendous gratitude and respect for Marc because he really established and built the foundation.

SR: What do you see as the biggest legacy Hodler leaves behind for the FIS?
BM: One of his greatest strengths was that he knew it was an international sport and I think we all have to make sure we don’t forget that, because it is one of the real valuable lessons that you have to think about. There were years Europeans never left Europe, and if you wanted to be an international ski racer you had to go to Europe and race in the Alps. It was a big step just to get the international community to start to come to the United States and come to North America. Now we’re in the Far East, and we look at opportunities to race in the Southern Hemisphere. And that all happened under (Hodler’s) watch. Again, a lot of what we do here is promote the sport, try to grow it internationally, and you can do that through competition.