Men’s Team Sprint distance in Beijing will be shorter than previously thought – sources

The rumour mill brought as a tidbit that we wanted to share with you: FIS has decided to shorten the distance of men’s Team Sprint event at the Beijing Olympics from 1850 to 1500 meters. In other words, men and women will run exactly the same distance at exactly the same course.

The decision allegedly came during the recent visit to Kuyangshu Nordic Center where Olympic races will be held by a delegation led by FIS Cross-Country Race Director Pierre Mignerey.

FIS in its press-release makes no mention of the route changes , but our sources tell us that’s either ” done deal” or ” being actively debated”.

We on ours part applaud the decision – first, FIS has to show that it is doing something for gender equality when most of the other sporting federations had already equalised the race distances for women and men. Second, 1500 meters will be more dynamic than 1850 – and ” dynamic” is the word television likes. And since television is the one footing the bill for competitions – it has to be listened to.

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