FIS Named Finalist in Three Categories at Sport Positive Awards 2026
Jul 24, 2026·Inside FIS:format(webp))
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation has been named a finalist in all three categories it entered at the Sport Positive Awards 2026, in recognition of two initiatives advancing sustainability across snow sports.
The Food for White Winters project has been shortlisted in the Inspired Innovation and Purpose-Led Partnership categories. At the same time, the Winter Trail to Nature card game is a finalist in the Education and Training category.
The Sport Positive Awards celebrate organizations and individuals working to create a more sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and climate-conscious future for sport. This year, 80 organizations and individuals from around the world have been shortlisted across 12 categories.
Food for White Winters: Finalist in the Inspired Innovation and Purpose-Led Partnership Categories
The Food for White Winters project tests nutritious, climate-smart meals designed to fuel peak athletic performance while protecting the winter environments on which snow sports depend. FIS and the Åre Alpine World Cup Local Organizing Committee piloted the initiative at the FIS Alpine World Cup in Åre, Sweden, in March 2026.
Food for White Winters unites leading researchers, chefs, sustainability experts, and athletes to reimagine how winter sports are fueled. Olympic gold medalists Charlotte Kalla and André Myhrer joined members of the Swedish Alpine Ski Team and other experts to help shape the initiative. Developed with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, PLATE, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Eldrimner, and local culinary innovators, the project translates leading food science, including the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet and PLATE principles, into practical meals for winter sports.
The pilot demonstrated that food can meet the nutritional demands of elite athletes while reducing its environmental impact. The new menus reduced the estimated climate impact of volunteer catering by 10%. For athletes, meals containing around 50 grams less meat had an estimated 20% lower climate impact.
Researchers collected environmental and nutritional data during the event, which FIS intends to use to help shape dietary guidelines for future competitions and support the model’s wider adoption across its network.
By providing evidence from a live sporting event, Food for White Winters offers a practical and replicable approach to addressing one of sport’s often-overlooked sources of emissions.
Winter Trail to Nature: Finalist in the Education and Training Category
Winter Trail to Nature brings snow sports and sustainability together through an educational card game designed to make learning engaging, social, and memorable.
Athletes, coaches, officials, and fans answer questions about nature, the environment, and the mountains. Incorrect answers may result in a playful challenge, such as completing a push-up or identifying the most sustainable object nearby. Each answer is then read aloud and explained, ensuring that participants leave with new knowledge as well as an enjoyable experience.
The cards were digitally hand-illustrated by Italian Olympic and World Cup alpine skier Elena Curtoni, making the game a sustainability resource created by an athlete for athletes.
Following its first trial at the FIS Autumn Technical Meetings in Zurich, the game has traveled to events ranging from a media day in Milan to World Cup finish areas in Courchevel, Engelberg, and Ruka. It has helped spark conversations among those whose choices influence the future of snow sports, while several National Ski Associations have expressed interest in translating and adapting the game.
Another Step Forward for Sustainability at FIS
Held in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Olympic Committee, the Sport Positive Summit will unite more than 600 sports leaders worldwide on October 6–7, 2026. The fully virtual event will drive collective action toward a more sustainable and resilient future for sport.