10k Freestyle At Olympics: Top Contenders

10k Freestyle At Olympics: Top Contenders

Leaders, Newsfeed
No doubt - 10K freestyle will be a huge battle The battle where - for the first time in many years of skiing history - Norwegian ladies are not being seen as top gold contenders ( and yes, we shall be happy to eat our words if one of them, normally incredible, Norwegians wins) It's not for the lack of top Norge talents. They still field one very, very impressive team despite the lack of Therese Johaug: [caption id="attachment_6666" align="aligncenter" width="1461"] Marit Bjorgen [/caption] [caption id="attachment_6646" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Ragnhild Haga[/caption] Ingvild Oestberg [/caption] Heidi Weng [/caption] Just how strong is the Norwegian quartet? Strong enough to claim 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th places in the latest test of fitness & form: 10k freestyle in Seefeld late January. There are two…
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Who Is Running In Men’s Skiathlon At Olympics

Who Is Running In Men’s Skiathlon At Olympics

Leaders, Newsfeed
For presentation of the world's best skiers who are to open their Olympic competitions with skiathlon on Sunday we are going to change the format. Instead of efforting to put on display as many skiers' faces as possible - as we did with the skiathlon-running ladies - here we are going to limit ourselves to ten skiers only. Three out of these ten , we believe, will stand on the podium on Sunday. ... And it's going to be a Norway vs the Rest of the World game! Norway has four fantastically strong skiers running, including but not limited to Martin Sundby, current world vice-champion in skiathlon ( everybody, of course, remembers his battle with Sergey Ustiugov on the final uphill) and bookies' top favorite and outright Golden Boy of…
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Who Are We Going To Miss At Olympics – And Why Is It Totally Wrong

Who Are We Going To Miss At Olympics – And Why Is It Totally Wrong

Leaders, Newsfeed
Two weeks to go to the Olympic Games, cross country skiing fans start counting disappointments The modern sport is not about who wins – it's about who's got bigger personality, appeal, following. To simplify matters – if a skier got 50k subscribers on Instagram, that universal popularity tool, yet was not selected for Pyeonchang – it ain't good for the great sport of skiing. [caption id="attachment_6358" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] fans pack the stands to see not only competitions but first and foremost their heroes. It was plain and evident in Dresden that many ( most?) came to look at Jonannes Klaebo[/caption] Let's see who we'll miss in Korea The double crown goes to two Norwegians – but of course. With a deliberate, symbolic denial of the Olympics to, arguably, world's strongest…
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“I Wil Be Back” Writes Johaug, Gets Golden Commemorative Coin “To Give Her Further Motivation”

“I Wil Be Back” Writes Johaug, Gets Golden Commemorative Coin “To Give Her Further Motivation”

Leaders, Newsfeed
Therese Johaug is out of the PyeongChang Olympics – but not out of newspaper headlines with media sharply divided over a 29 year old Norwegian's role in modern cross country skiing. The latest episode was sparked by the visit of Ms. Johaug to Samlehuset, a local company ( but a branch of international powerhouse in its field). Samlerhuset Norge is a distributor of various collectibles best known for its succesful promotion & direct marketing of official Olympic coins. While there, an Olympic champion of Vancouver, who is missing the upcoming Games through doping suspension, was asked to write a greeting – which she promptly did on a booklet advertizing 2000 Korean Won, an Olympic edition special. " I will be back" reads the skier's message (in English), accompanied by a…
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Faces Of Skiers Tell Stories

Faces Of Skiers Tell Stories

Leaders, Newsfeed
We don't often get to see their faces - television cameras only stop at them for a fraction of time and the spectators' stands are too far away, as a rule. Let's take a look at what relatively close access the press is entitled to brings - hopefully, the camera lens had managed to capture emotions written on their faces. [caption id="attachment_6476" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Federico Pellegrino of Italy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6479" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Kasper Stadaas of Norway [/caption] [caption id="attachment_6485" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Andrey Krasnov of Russia listens to assistant coach Egor Sorin[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6484" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Andy Newell of Team U.S.A. & coach [/caption] [caption id="attachment_6483" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Andrej Segec of Slovakia[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6482" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Teodor Peterson of Sweden[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6492" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Caitlin Patterson and Kikkan Randall of the…
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