Rarest Of Races: Skiathlon. Why Is It Only Once A Year And What Happens Day Before

Rarest Of Races: Skiathlon. Why Is It Only Once A Year And What Happens Day Before

Leaders, Newsfeed
The skiathlon is, probably, the most challenging ski race of them all. Challenging for the athletes who have to run switching style halfway. Challenging for the organizers who have to prepare two separate courses (same true about relays. In theory anyone could have it but in practice only the biggest, the most established ski stadiums like famed Birkiebeiner in Lillehammer are willing & able to. Perhaps,the most challenging the skiathlon is for the teams'ski technicians who have double the load preparing for the races. Today we'll show unsung heroes of pro-skiing. At work. [caption id="attachment_13858" align="alignnone" width="1920"] On the day before the race many a top skier do lap after lap with her/ his assigned waxer trying to find the best combo of waxes. Cue Charlotte Kalla and her specialist.…
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Anastasia Sedova Joins Good Company

Anastasia Sedova Joins Good Company

Newsfeed, Trivia
Bronze medalist of Seefeld'19 Anastasia Sedova will skip the upcoming season. The boss of the Russian cross country skiing Elena Vyalbe has (reluctantly) confirmed the news when asked whether there is any truth in rumours that Sedova is pregnant. Sedova,24, joins a fellow Seefeld medal winner Yulia Belorukova as well as two other Team Russia skiers, Elena Soboleva-Ustigova (wife of Sergei Ustiugov) and Tatyana Aleshina, who are all expecting. It's doubtful that any team in the history of cross country skiing ever had four of its athletes out through pregnancy.
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Unique Version Of Still Rare Alpina Elite 3.0 ECL Spotted

Unique Version Of Still Rare Alpina Elite 3.0 ECL Spotted

Gear News, Newsfeed
Have you noticed how the race between competing high-end ski boots makers is heating up? Not to disparage ski and pole designers, but there was no revolution in their field in this century. True, tracks changed, weather conditions changed and lots of fine-tuning went into making them skis glide better in 2019. Still, it's modest in comparison to how much ski boots changed even in the last decade with introduction of carbon cuffs and all-carbon soles. The race is on, fresh entrants appear on the market and all manufacturers have to develop new boots faster - and to find niches hitherto unexplored. Enter Alpina. The Slovenian high-end ski boots manufacturer has presented its newest top model at Seefeld 2019, but until now only a few sport them. [caption id="attachment_13700" align="alignnone"…
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Equipment Update: What We Saw At First International Race Of Season

Equipment Update: What We Saw At First International Race Of Season

Gear News, Newsfeed
For years now Olos/Muonio has had a reputation of being the first true international meet-up of the new competition season. The results may or may not reflect the actual strength of a particular athlete,depending on her/ his strategy. But what is constant, is the fact that we all get to see athletes who changed their gear supplier in the summer to podium walk their new wares for the first time. [caption id="attachment_13666" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Biggest news, of course, is Iivo Niskanen switching from Rossignol to Fischer. It is becoming exceedingly rare in our days to see a skier of his caliber & titles to do the swap. Yet a double Olympic and a world champion has taken that plunge...[/caption] [caption id="attachment_13661" align="alignnone" width="1920"] It would appear that the Austrian skis…
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Here Is To Supersprint

Here Is To Supersprint

Leaders, Newsfeed
You've heard of it by now. You probably even saw it broadcast - either on NRK, SVT or online. Let us add our two cents and share what we liked about the inaugural ski supersprint It's fast. And we are not just talking athletes' speed. Excluding prologue, the whole race fits inside 1.5 hour. If you, as a television broadcast viewer, prefer any sporting event to last longer you clearly got too much time on your hands. If you are a spectator on the terraces yet want a longer show, then you positively enjoy to be frozen & exposed to elements which we have hard time understanding. It's highly visual. There is quite enough drama caught on camera- and even more of it is happening outside the racing ground as…
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