Xcskiing 2022 – a list of woes goes long

Xcskiing 2022 – a list of woes goes long

Leaders, Newsfeed
Do you like understatements? Here's one: The times ain't easy for the international cross country skiing. If you read this, you most likely have your own reasons to think so. Nonetheless, let us list them: The bosses of the most powerful national ski associations are in open revolt against the FIS boss Johan Eliasch and his radical reforms. The World Cup 22/ 23 schedule is a very illustration of the word " lopsided": 4 out of 15 competition venues are located in Norway - while one of the most important markets , Germany, hosts only one. There are zero races in the Central Europe ( Poland, Czechia, Austria, East Germany etc.) and there are zero races outside of Europe in general. Neither are the things shiny when it comes to…
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Was there ever such a sad FIS World Cup season as this one?

Was there ever such a sad FIS World Cup season as this one?

Leaders, Newsfeed
Was there ever such a screwed up FIS World Cup season as this one? Two WC stages scrapped- ostensibly - because of Covid, while every other snow sport was happily competing at the same time, even in the same countries. The World Cup final cancelled because of the politics - and what's most telling, not a single serious candidate sprung up to fill the void despite a three week notice. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" That's not us here saying - that's murmurs we increasingly hear among stakeholders of all hues. And it might get worse. It almost certainly will get worse. We are not privy to exact statistics, but one does not have to be a genius to see that a loss of the market of…
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Ustiugov deserves Olympic medal more than anybody else in cross-country skiing  – as a compensation for the  2018 Olympics that never happened in his career – Markus Cramer

Ustiugov deserves Olympic medal more than anybody else in cross-country skiing – as a compensation for the 2018 Olympics that never happened in his career – Markus Cramer

Leaders, Newsfeed
There will be an Olympic debut like no other in the Olympic Sprint competitions on Tuesday. Well, technically Sergey Ustiugov had his first Olympic race 8 years ago in Sochi where then-21 year old was one of the hot Sprint favorites. But the chaos in the Sprint finals with many a fall led to Ustiugov tripping over a Swedish skier, breaking his pole and finishing - if you could call it that - a minute behind the winner, Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway. Ustiugov hasn't started in any other race in Sochi. In the years between Sochi'14 and Pyeongchang'18 the Russian "Moose", as his domestic fans call him ,established himself as a dominant force in the international cross country skiing, winning anything from sprints to 50k and was gearing up…
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Beijing Olympics ski tracks  – what are they like? Tough with a capital  T , says the man in the know

Beijing Olympics ski tracks – what are they like? Tough with a capital T , says the man in the know

Leaders, Newsfeed
Without further ado, we give the floor to Max Volkov, distance squad coach in Team China, who is currently at Kuyangshu Nordic and Biathlon Center in Zhangjiakou - the future Olympic venue : Overall,the Olympic tracks are quite balanced and harmonious for the lack of better description when it comes to a combination of uphills and descents. As one would imagine, there are no easy race profile configurations at the top level competitions in principle. But in Beijing there are added factors: The one that gets mentioned a lot is the altitude. The courses are laid on or above 1700m - that's higher than any FIS World Cup races in Europe. During the Olympic Games, the weather is expected to be cold and dry. That would make the snow slow.…
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Davos where top talent congregate this week

Davos where top talent congregate this week

Leaders, Newsfeed
World's best playground this week is in Davos, Switzerland. The Swiss resort is practically oozes raw power. Except that this week it not about world's richest and most powerful - it's about fittest and best looking [caption id="attachment_18849" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Bolshunov looks concentrated. He won 15k F in Davos last year [/caption] [caption id="attachment_18851" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Johannes Klaebo [/caption][caption id="attachment_18844" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gus Schumacher from Team USA practices uphill [/caption] [caption id="attachment_18853" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stars of tomorrow who boldly decided to shine today: Veronika Stepanova,20, and Helene Fossesholm, 20[/caption][caption id="attachment_18843" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Television reporting these days means being able to run after world's best skier with a camera.Repeatedly[/caption] [caption id="attachment_18848" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Head coach of Team USA Matt Whitcomb calls Davos " home away from home" - the Americans…
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