thanks for this - love watching xc ski

went to my local xc venue this morning and flailed around, not on my game at all - really struggled to keep/form form

I've been getting back into XC-Skiing myself this winter after a many year hiatus - I forgot HOW MUCH I love it! Of all of the things I have done in various Endurance Sports since I was in my mid teens - the thing that I still love the most is skiing - both classic and skate.

Is there a way to watch the coverage of the Championships?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Just watched the prolog.
The Swedish women looks strong. Could go 1, 2, 3.

Klæbo is in shape.
But you always have some Russians.
The odds for Klæbo is 1,4.

Norwegian women crazy strong in the heats so far. Without having them on the World Cup most of the season they were a bit of an unknown (I mean, you know Norway is going to be in the mix).

I guess my predictions were quite good :-)

Jonna Sundling was dominating. Great win for the Swede.
Falla now has 5 world championship medals in a row, and two olympic medals since 2013.

Klæbo is Klæbo. He is the best.
Three Norwegians in the male final. Result 1, 2, 3.
I call that a good day.

I was curious to see how Bolshunov would tackle the course.

In all seriousness Klaebo is awesome. After the World Cup in Quebec he spent close to an hour signing autographs on the last day. I'm cheering for him; he's a generational talent.

Maybe I missed where you made predictions... "Klaebo is in shape" doesn't really count in my book!! Joking aside, great day for the Norwegian men, and full credit to Falla, certainly a big stage skier.

Curious what Svennson's thought process was in the final deciding to go all DP. Surprising considering running the last hill was going to be the key moment.

Good result for JC and Ben to qualify, excited to watch them continue to develop!

Not much input on names/countries etc. But I watch the Biathlon championships while on the bike trainer, I have them all DVRed. I really don't get all the rules, names or what is going on but holy moly that is fun to watch!

It is crazy to watch someone who is 20+ seconds ahead of the field, miss one shot then ends up in 4-5th place or someone in 8th place nail all the targets and move up to 2nd. Towards the end, you can see them struggling to keep the rifle steady, running out of extra shots, etc. The mixed relays are my favorite to watch.

Sorry. I should have written the sentence as an American. Klæbo is in shape, and when he is in shape he will win easily :-)
Klæbo has an acceleration no other skier can follow at the moment.
His technique is consistent, even in high speed. Especially look at his cornering (speed out of the corners).
Also his timing while double poling is on point.

Svennson had to try something new. He went for a medal. If he had used grip wax he would have been last anyway.
Going for just double poling could have worked.
Several sprints have been won with that technique. But not on this course, and not with this athlete.

Great for Sweden with a win also.

I was really hoping for a better performance from the USA women. Diggins and Sophie didn't seem to have that spark. Maybe it was skis? Jessie's skis didn't look amazing but the skis always are fast when your body is fit! Does anyone know why Sadie Bjornsen didn't get a start in the classic sprint?

Klaebo is in a class of his own. He won the prologue by about 3 seconds. That may not seem like much, but 3 seconds is HUGE at that level. It would be so fun to be him; to just be able to make everyone respond to you.

I found it disappointing that the mens final was 1,2,3 Norway. They are just better than everyone and also seem to have better (but not hugely better) skis. It adds insult to injury when the fittest athletes show up at the start line with better skis than everyone else. At least Bolshunov didn't podium; I really dislike that guy.

wait..in what way do they have 'better skis'?

same! with my two kids minor hockey seasons on hold Ive had tons of time to reacquaint myself to the trails. Its been the best winter!

It’s just an observation that the Norwegians had good skis today. They seem to always have good skis (with notable exceptions)

When you are at the top, you get the first cut of skis from ski companies. Klaebo gets Fischer’s top skis. He also has a waxer that sorts through hundreds of skis to give him the best one. Then he probably spends hours with his tech selecting skis that work best for his skiing style and conditions. Then you add on that Norway has the best organized and profesional waxing team.

Us master hacks have no conception of how much nicer World Cup skiers skis are. It’s not that they fly downhill (they do) it’s that they also are dreams on the uphills.

Norway has the ability to outwax every other team because of their resources. They are like an army.

Small teams sometimes hope for changing conditions cause they can’t compete with Norway in stable conditions. In stable conditions, Norway can out wax every other team. In variable conditions, luck comes into play and smaller teams can guess lucky on the wax.

Norway might only have skis that are <1% better than everyone else. But you can train a lifetime to get 1% better.

hmm.. interesting

Jessie Diggens is one of the skier with most support from her sponsor Salamon.
You get support based on results, but not just that.
As a Norwegian skier you are competing with a lot of other world class skiers for attention.
It is a lot easier to be a top skier in the USA or Germany and get good or even better deals.

I do not think Valnes and Taugbøl have better support than top skiers from other countries.
How many outside of Norway know who Taugbøl is??

Good points!

Taugbol and valnes definitely don’t have the level of support that klaebo does. They’re fitness shone through today.

I still think the Norwegians have wax advantages. Devon kershaws podcast has discussed his experience working for the Norwegian waxers. No other team has that level of effort.

The good thing is that wax technicians that have worked for the Norwegians now work for other nations.
The grip wax specialist for the USA has worked for Norway.
The same for Sweden.

But yes, Norway has the coolest wax truck and budget.

It is hard for people from other countries to understand the status winter sports has in Norway.
Now during the world championship, and earlier for the alpine and biathlon championship you have wall to wall coverage

As an owner of a couple of pairs of skis that long ago belonged to a World Cup and Olympic champ, I can say yes, my skis at one time were an absolute dream. I was remembering today, how one year at Boulder Tour, the first time I raced them, I was laughing my way through the race, as on the flats and long gradual downhills I was just flying by so many people (of course I attributed it to my genius wax choice / skills (not!) Too bad the engine and the technique belongs to a flailing idiot!

Thanks JD for starting this thread.

I gotta say, I thought US had put it's wax woes behind it. And here we are in 2021. NOBODY on the US had good skis. Diggins was clearly slipping, Sophie looked to be working hard and going nowhere, and JC was the same. Disappointing. Jessie is too classy to throw the wax techs under the bus but you could just see the difference on the lack of glide and grip, but I'm not that classy. Wax was a huge issue today.

I hope they get it together by the skiathlon. Slush is brutal, but if the other countries can nail it, we need to as well.

Us master hacks have no conception of how much nicer World Cup skiers skis are. It’s not that they fly downhill (they do) it’s that they also are dreams on the uphills.


There is a difference - I got to ski on a Canadian National Team Members skis ounce for a bit, and they had been waxed by the Lead Wax Tech for the time for the Canadian Team and they were ridiculously faster than my own skis - and I take good care of my skis and do everything I can to make them as fast as I can make them!

So taking this to the next level - if you are the #1 Norwegian Skier, you get the first pick of every batch of Fischer's or Salomon's or whatever, and the best Wax Techs in the world waxing your skis. That's HUGE!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Great recap of the sprints on the Devon Kershaw show: https://share.transistor.fm/...7JlkMx0DiIyvAmRHtI7c

They discuss waxing as well as Svensson's choice to go with skate skis in the final along with other good stuff.

It is not true that Norwegians get the first pick on skis.
Everything is dependent on what kind of agreement/sponsorship you have.

Skis
Top tier is international agreement.
These athletes will get to pick skis directly from the factory.
This is of course the best way to build up your fleet of skis.
So this is not just for Norwegians. This is for the best skiers.

Second tier is top national agreement.
These athletes can pick skis from the distributor of the country.

Third tier is skishop
You get your skis from a store.
But in Norway the ski stores are really good at picking skis. Many of them are going to the factories to pick skis there.

Grind
You cannot be competitive just with good skis. You need to have the correct grind for the different conditions.
I can get my own skis grinded by the same people and machines as the national team members here in Norway since most of the grinding is done by stores.

Waxing
Norway does not have a wax person. Norway has a wax system with documentation, testing and efficiencies.
And yes, here Norway is best.

From Simi Hamilton on Insta. Classy.

"People have been messaging me why I didn’t race yesterday... valid question and I take it as a compliment that so many have faith in my classic sprinting! I’m not sick or injured. The reality is that after 11 years of trying to crack the code on classic sprinting at this level, I didn’t really think I was going to figure it out in what is most likely the last few weeks of my career, and I wanted to put all my focus into my skate racing, especially with the chance to partner up with one of my role models @gus.schumacher for the team sprint. I knew my decision was a good one yesterday when @ben.0gden was given my start and made the statement that he did, qualifying in 11th from bib 61 and finishing the day in 17th. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again: this team of American boys coming up is going to do some extraordinary things, and I’m just humbled and grateful to do what I can to contribute to that. But first it’s time to get this old, creaky body in gear and do some skating!"

Day 2: Saturday 2/27

Looks like forecast is some light rain overnight, but staying above freezing. It will be cooler than the sprint, but temps still get above 40f/4c. Waxing for the classic leg of the skiathlon will likely be tricky, although I personally have very little experience with classic waxing.


Women 7.5k+7.5K Skiathlon @ 5:45 am EST

Favorite here is undoubtedly Therese Johaug from Norway, especially if conditions are variable/tricky. The question in my mind is if she is able/wants to open up an appreciable gap on the classic leg (where she is excellent), and if anyone is able to stay with her. There are skiers in the field with better finishing speed than Therese, but rarely is anyone near her! For Norway I am also interested to see Helene Marie Fossesholm in her first senior worlds start. She is such an exciting skier to watch, and was second to Therese in Lahti. Heidi Weng is also a strong podium contender after a third in Lahti.

Other contenders for the podium could be Ebba Andersson from Sweden who had great distance races at the Tour de Ski, Frida Karlsson (SWE) if she is fully recovered from injury, and Natalia Nepryaeva and Yulia Stupak from Russia.

For the US Jessie Diggins is definitely a podium contender if she can start the skate leg with the main group. The US is also starting three exciting younger skiers in Hailey Swirbul, Sophia Laukli, and Katharine Ogden.

Picks:
1. Therese Johaug
2. Jessie Diggins (heart over head?)
3. Heidi Weng

Men 15k+15K Skiathlon @ 7:30 am EST

This is going to be the Norway vs. Russian Ski Federation show, hard to see anyone else being a factor. Alexander Bolshunov probably comes in as the slim favorite based on the World Cup distance races this year, but in Lahti Norwegians took the first four spots with Iversen, Roethe, Golberg (not starting at world champs), and Krueger. The Norwegians also have Klaebo, and if he is in in contention coming into the finish, no one would bet against him.

For the US, Scott Patterson and David Norris bring experience, with Hunter Wonders and Ben Ogden bringing youth. Ben had a great result in the sprint, so I'm excited to see what he does in a distance race. I expected to see Gus Schumacher on the list (top American in Lahti), but it sounds like he is racing the team sprint on Sunday with Simi.

ETA: Iivo Niskanen from Finland could also be a player, especially driving the pace in the classic leg. Don't think he'll be on the podium, but expect him and maybe Dario Cologna from Switzerland among a lot of RSF and NOR suits.

Picks:
1. Alexander Bolshunov
2. Emil Iversen
3. Johannes Klaebo

The sad part is XC skiing is still so patronizing that women race shorter distances than men. Its not like these distances are particularly long for either men or women like super long 250km cycling classics where the average speed of the men''s race is so much faster than the women''s race that making the women race the distance would make itt substanttially longer in time (but even that is not an excuse since men and women race 8 and 9 hrs Ironmans respectively). Men and women race equal distaces on Olympic tri and marathons and roughly have the same percent delta in both events. A 30km skiathlon is a joke distance for the top women. By make the women race shorter they just reward the women with a slightly different physiology but really not that much different. I can't believe that xc skiing is still stuck in this ancient past like cycling and speed skating. When will they wake up realize it is 2021 not 1961?

Well Therese has completely blown apart this race, geez.

Tough one for Jessie so far, classic skis didn't look great, and going backward on a skate leg isn't what you expect from her.

I am all in for Muzzy in this men's race!

Also, Scott Patterson!

haha....someone check Therese's lip balm

Good day for Norway. 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze in four events.

So huge disappointment for Jessie today. I'm just gonna say it. She's tired. TDS took too much out of her. I'm not seeing her bounce back for the 10k. (do I sound like the harbinger of doom?).

I have no idea what happened to Swirbul and Ogden. Such a great early season and TDS.

Is the old adage that the better you do at TDS, the worse you do on the second half of the season, coming true? I can't figure out if its the skis or fatigue or a combo thereof?

The guys on the other hand, kicked ass today. So exciting.

I can't wait to see Simi and Gus tomorrow. I think its Rosie and Sadie in the team sprint tomorrow.

If Rosie and Jessie can get some December snap back, we are looking great for the 4 x 5. The men also have a great team in the 4 x 10 as well.

Matt Whitcomb admits they missed the skis for the women's sprint and skiathlon. He is proud they were able to bounce back and have better skis for the men: https://open.spotify.com/...xNKddkakXeJzDcKtHyf7

Really hoping Jessie can bounce back for the 10k and relay.

ETA: Rosie and Sadie for the US in women's team sprint. They are in semifinal A with Switzerland and Slovenia who are both medal contenders. The women's team sprint is going to be really interesting with Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia, Russia, and the US all very strong.

Just needs some lip balm from the Norwegian wonderkid to get the spring back

Day 3: Sunday 2/28

Cold overnight but warming to 50f tomorrow. Track could get pretty beaten up after 4 semifinals with 14 teams each and two finals.

One thing I noticed today, there is GPS tracking on the FIS site now and you can watch replays of races: https://static.sportresult.com/...c2021/ccs/index.html


Men's and Women's Team Sprint Finals: 7am EST

Women:

I'm really looking forward to this one. I think Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia, Russia, and the USA could all be in the mix. Favorites are likely Norway and Sweden, especially after their performances in the individual sprint. Sweden is starting Maja Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling, which is a formidable team, although I'm a bit surprised not to see Linn Svahn. Norway is starting Falla and T.U. Weng, both individual finalists.

Slovenia is a definite contender having taken the win in Ulricehamn with Lampic and Urevc. Switzerland was first in Dresden and third in Ulricehamn, and Nadine Faehndrich has been impressive in skate sprints this season.

The USA is bringing the Alaskan power with Rosie Brennan and Sadie Maubet Bjornsen. Strange not to have Jessie in a team sprint, but her focus has likely shifted to the 10k skate. Excited to see what Rosie and Sadie can do.

Picks are tough. Seems foolish to leave Norway out, but one can hope.

Picks:
1. Sweden
2. Slovenia
3. Switzerland


Men:

Norway for the win with Klaebo and Valnes, although Russia with Bolshunov and Retivykh won't make it easy. Italy, France, and Switzerland are also strong, with Italy and Switzerland taking first and second respectively in Ulricehamn. After not making the individual final, I'm sure Pellegrino will be firing for this one.

The USA is starting a really promising team with first-year senior Gus Schumacher and veteran Simi Hamilton. Gus has had a really strong first season on the World Cup, and Simi is a great skate sprinter. Excited to see how this one goes!

Picks:
1. Norway
2. Italy
3. Russia

Cool day of skiing on Norwegian TC.
Devon Kersaw is a guest in the studio all day.
Alex Harvey also came on since it is 10 years since those two won in Oslo 10 years ago.

Fun fact.
Canada fired Arild Monsen as a coach. He then went to coach sweden Sweden and then Norway.
He is now the most winning coach.

Great picks. My thoughts on USA / Women. USA held it together well. Sadie made a big mistake in letting Lampic catch up after they had the gap on the last lap. Fall or not, she was not going to outsprint Lampic down the stretch. Switzerland sticking to Sweden up the last hill was awesome. Falla coming unglued for Norway huge surprise. And where the hell did Russia come from? They haven't done shit all year.

Men: well I saw a brief replay of Gus falling down in the exchange, will have to watch the replay (thanks for the link). What a huge blown chance for USA. Rookie mistake, but considering he is a rookie, well...

Klaebo is freaking ridiculous. Love him. I was waiting for Bolshunov for come charging out of the finish area and tackle Maki before the line to get the silver :) I hate Bolshunov and the Russians.

At least the USA didn't screw up the structure / wax this time. Big pressure now for the 10k. I think Diggins can do this. Gus will be top 12.

Klaebo is the best sprinter, however, what Bolshunov is doing recently, is almost from another planet.
I mean, first he podiums in just about any race he enters until Christmas, then completely destroys Tour de Ski, and now, after he dropped the entire field by leading just about the entire skiathlon freestyle leg, he comes out today and flies uphill like he didn't do all those efforts before.

Allright, in the women's field, Johaug is untouchable in distance races, but at least she can't sprint unless there is a long steep hill involved.

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Need more W/CdA.

I thought the women's race was really fun. They seemed to be gunning from the start compared to the men. I have nothing at all against the Norwegians, but it's great to see other countries on the podium. Too bad one of them wasn't the US!

I was actually cheering for Bolshunov during the skiathlon when he was up against 5 Norwegians. You could at the finish that capturing his individual title was incredibly meaningful. There is a great three part series about Bolshunov on the Fasterskier website right now- worth a read. I still think he should have faced a stiffer penalty after Lahti, but his skiing is amazing to watch.

Definitely didn't see Finland taking the men's silver, that was pretty cool. When I woke up this morning and saw the US didn't qualify then looked at the splits it was clear something happened to Gus to lose 15-17 seconds in one leg. Hearing the story of the exchange was heartbreaking, but I highly recommend reading Simi's quote on Fasterskier. Classy, classy dude.

Also stoked for the Canadians in 7th!

By the way, I wanted to say thanks for starting this thread. I don't particularly enjoy the format for pro level skiing in that it is always national teams. I kind of like the format for pro cycling better with athletes from many countries on trade teams. Of course that has the scenario of the best sponsored teams having the deepest payrolls. But I do really like the sport (the actual act of skiing, just did a virtual 50km skate ski race today), so in spite of not liking the format of national teams, I do like the actual sport.

Cool image from the relay (thanks fasterskier.com)

Not that you were suggesting this, and I know that we shouldn't cast aspersions without proof, but considering the history with Russia, I can't quite wonder if Bolshunov is legit. Shades of Johan Muehlegg?

And to comment about Johaug, no, I believe she got a bad prescription (wasn't it proven the steroid came from that lip cream). I know the American team does not think she was intentionally doping.

Anyhow, he are my predictions for women's 10K. Looks to be 45 degrees and sunny.

1. Johaug
2. Diggins
3. Ebba

then, Frida, Fosseholm, Stadlober in that combo...

I think Jessie Diggins will medal tomorrow. She has a strong head and lots to prove.

Johaug is going to win for sure. No doubt about that.

Just wait though, the USA women will medal in 4x5k relay. The team is super fired up. Norway will win the relay, sweden will get second and USA will be third.

I think the order will be:

1. Sadie
2. Rosie
3. Laukli
4. Diggins

I agree on the relay... but I think Swirbul will get the nod over Laukli. Don't get me wrong, Laukli is the future. But Swirbul had great early season results at Davos (3rd in 10k) and TDS, so she is proven, despite Laukli beating her at the skiathlon (lets be honest, the classic ski wax issue probably had a lot to do with that). Laukli looks to be a strong climber. She will do great things soon.

The best part of this is arguing who we can put on a women's RELAY. I've been following XC for 30 years, and this is the first time I've ever had the luxury of worrying about who is in the right line up for a US relay.

I'm also gonna say Sweden is going to top Norway. If Svahn get can get it together (I have no idea what happened to her in the sprint), they will send her our first, and she will gap the field (unless Norway sends Johaug, then all bets are off).

Tuesday 3/2: Women's 10k Free Interval Start @ 7:15am EST

Really looking forward to this one, and the field is stacked.

Jessie Diggins for the USA has been targeting this race, and after a tough sprint and skiathlon, I really hope she is able to throw down a good one. Jessie won the 10k skate in Falun over Therese Johaug, and has been on fire all winter. The US is also starting Rosie Brennan who is sitting 3rd overall in the world cup, and Sadie Maubet Bjornsen who looked really strong the team sprint. Rounding out the American women is Sophia Laukli who had a great result in the skiathlon with a 25th as a first year senior.

Despite finishing second to Jessie in Falun, Therese Johaug is probably still the favorite. Because Norway has the defending world champ (Johaug), they get five starting spots, and all of their skiers are threats. Notably Fossesholm is a multiple jr. world champ and Haga is the defending Olympic champ in this event.

For Sweden Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson have already been on the podium in the skiathlon, Maja Dahlqvist has a gold in the team sprint, and Charlotte Kala has multiple world champ and Olympic wins and medals.

Stupak, Nepryaeva, Sorina have all been skiing well for Russia, and Teresa Stadlober from Austria had an impressive 4th in the skiathlon earlier in the championship.

So many contenders- going to be great!

Picks:
1. Johaug
2. Diggins
3. Andersson

Meh. It was a pretty subdued field, defined more by who wasn't there vs. who was.

Russia can establish a reputation as being solid competitors who are all clean if they were to embrace doping regulations and being in testing by another (non-Russian) agency. They haven't, and until they do I view his achievements with suspicion.

I also factor in 2 Russian athletes slapping and tackling other competitors at the finish line in recent years. It's enough for me to dislike them. I'm cheering for literally anyone else.

I'll admit I have trouble not being skeptical of Johaug. I mean I know she is a generational talent, but when you have served a doping ban and then win the 10k at the World Champs by 54s.... ugh.

Bummed for Jessie, but it was clear Frida and Ebba were in amazing form coming into to today. The Relay should be good!

Great day for Johaug.
Finally her technique is matching her capacity.
Her coach is PÃ¥l Gunnar Mikkelsplass.

Before the championship she did some important skate sessions on the treadmill.
She managed to calm down and get more push.

In general terms we are all going to be leery about any generational talent that dominates. We can thank Ben Johnson for really elevating this skepticism. Bjarne Riis just elevated it to a complete different level in parallel to the 1992/1994/1998 Italian XC ski teams (Conconi and Ferrari had done their research focused on specific sports). With Therese being banned for lip balm steroids and then coming back to dominate like this, she's just gonna have a cloud hanging overhead when it seems too good to be true. Maybe it is just being a generational talent AND being part of the best organized competitive ski conveyor belt on the planet. I think that would be the ideal scenario. Does she ski 30 seconds slower over 10km if she competed for Croatia, Canada, France or Andorra and a lot of the gains are just being part of the Norway program (I hope its just better Norwegian prep, training, and equipment)

well, youtube tv didn't record it, so i had to wait to watched it. Jessie, Sophie and Rosie just looked labored. working really hard, not going fast, not great glide. lotsa hills, heat, slow snow and maybe still some wax issues, its just not our week. Frida looked smooth and in control. And Johaug like a flea on steroids (in short, like normal, not meant to be a dig). her tempo and strength to weight ratio must be insane.

As a Villanova grad, in basketball, we light to make ourselves feel better by calling bad losses "moral victories" and "brightside" the next game. So here is my brightside... moving onto the relay. Rosie had a great opening 5k. Sadie was top 10. Ahead of Weng, . Norway could be in trouble in the relay. Sweden looks to be the favorite, with Kalla skiing so well, that can move Ebba or Frida to a classic leg, giving them added power.

Looking forward to the guys tomorrow. Hopefully it will cool off. Can't wait to see what Gus can do. Unlike mass starts, there will be zero lolly-gagging, and thankfully no Bolshunov.

Picks:
1. Hollund
2. Kroeger
3. Roethe

Gus... 7th.

I am vehemently anti-doping. Really am. I think it is so dissapointing the Russians are even at this championship.

But Johaug is clean. She made an honest mistake with her lip cream. For me, the single fact that she wasn't cheating was that she reported to doping control she was using the cream. She really made an honest mistake and took bad advice from her doctor on how to fix a sunburn and didn't get a TUE.

This win by Johaug might be the best ever. To win a 10K by 45 seconds? WTF. She is unbeatable in sloppy uphill conditions.

Too bad the world champs won't ever be at a venue with fair snow again. I think Jessie would have been on the podium if it was -10C and fair skiing.

Watch out. USA women are getting bronze in the 4x5K relay.

I think it's highly unlikely that both herself and the team doctor not only clearly missed the steroid in the lip balm(obvious to any doctor and elite athlete) but also missed the big sticker on the package saying it contained a banned substance. Maybe also a coincidence that the testing methodology improved during that period to detect the substance for twice the amount of time in the body compared to before.. Either way I can't believe she got off as lightly as she did both in terms of her ban from racing but also in the public eye.

I hope what she did today was done fairly but for someone to win by almost 1min in a 23min race at a world championships is really hard to understand. Imagine a scenario where someone from Russia with a previous doping violation(and blaming lip balm) doing that and compare the reactions afterwards.

I just feel like we have seen efforts like that, which has since been proven to be chemically enhanced, so many times before at this point.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

Trondheim 2025!

Predictable weather on the xc skiing location, and will be in a post Fluorbased glider and kick wax world. So hopefully fair for all major teams (who have the resources to build new knowledge).

I can see the top of the jumps from My house:-)

Did you not see my point?

Johaug listed it as a medication she was using on her doping control. She told the doping control she was using it. There is no dispute it was in her body. She just didn't go through the formal therapeutic exemption process. She didn't do the right paperwork and got caught.

This is incredibly different than Russia still working with the dopingest coaching team of all time. The head coach of Russa is Ylena Valbe; I would bet my house that Ylena doped. All russians skiing in the 90's doped that is a fact. The current Russian coaching staff come from a culture of doping. I just don't believe the Russians are clean. Maybe they are, but they have a real bad doping history.

Johaugs performance today was unbelievable but she is the #2 skier ever. She is just the best and had a perfect body and perfect skis. On a course that is perfect for her.

Her performance is unbelievable...but it is clean.

I did but I don't see how it matters. She would never have gotten a TUE for that particular substance either way as there were other more suitable alternatives. There are multiple scenarios where declaring it could be the smart thing to do, like misjudging micro dosing or finding out that the testing could pick up the substance for longer than anticipated(which was the case during that time). Either way it's completely ridiculous to think that a team doctor in the biggest and most well funded federation in nordic sports picked up a medication without first picking out a that it contained a steroid(this is doubled and tripple checked always) but also missing the big sticker on the package saying it contained a doping classed product. Not only did he miss that but she did as well while in an interview shortly before that going into detail about how particular she is with that stuff. This simply does not happen in high level sport and especially not with a support system like she has.

We've heard all the reasoning before as to why certain athletes are heads and shoulders above everyone else but almost always it turns out too good to be true. To say with certainty that someone is clean is unfortunately not possible anymore and especially not with her previous history.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

well this is as you say very disappointing.. can't we turn a Norwegian ski tech somehow ? ha.

I did a long climb in slush recently - have had snow clump on the skis, but never before had ice form on the bases..
The shady bits were OK, but even double poling through the sunny bits, the skis would bog down within a couple of yards. Grim..

Wednesday 3/2 @ 7:15am - Men's 15k Skate Interval Start

Not much to say on this one really, it will likely be a bunch of Norwegians and Bolshunov in the top 6. Maybe Iivo Niskanen can shake things up, and several of the other Russians have been strong on the World Cup this season.

Personally I'm more interested in the U23s with Gus Schumacher for the US, Hugo Laplus for France (U23 World Champ), William Poromaa for Sweden, and Friederich Moch for Germany. Gus had a relatively disappointing 9th in the 15k skate at U23 worlds, and I'm looking forward to seeing him bounce back tomorrow. I think a top 15, maybe even a top 10 is possible.

Also starting for the US are Scott Patterson and David Norris who were great in the Skiathlon, and Simi Hamilton who has had a tough season and I would love to see have a solid race.

Another U23 of note is Remi Drolet from Canada who skis for Harvard and trains at our beloved Weston Ski Track!

I guess I need to make some picks...
Picks:
1. Bolshunov
2. Krueger
3. Holund

As stupid as this may sound any athlete who wins and tests clean, I have to give the benefit of the doubt. But once they test positive and come back and still pull off miraculous performances, the benefit of the doubt and statements about "but it is clean" just get harder to stomach.

Here is the discussion on Valverde and his Operacion Puerto based "past" and doping ban:

https://www.cyclingnews.com/...uerto/#disqus_thread

We can't stop athletes to return to sport after their bans (don't blame the athlete for coming back, blame the system for allowing them back in), but if they are back from bans and racing, lots of us will question. They may be once in a lifetime phenoms (which Johaug was/is), but they will just be suspect forever from skeptical fans of sport.

Great day at the office for the Norwegians.
Really cool to see Harald Amundsen doing so well. He is a young athlete.
Holund and Kruger are both VO2 machines.

I think Norway is the favorite to the relay....

Really going out on a limb there....

Right? LOL. Halvard, I don't think anyone is going to disagree with that pick!

I'm saying US women for silver. We will beat Norway, but not Sweden. Can wait to see the line up and who is skiing what legs.

Alright everyone.... pull on your striped socks and get that face paint ready, it's relay time!

Thursday 3/4 @ 7:15 am - Women's 4x5k Relay

The 4x5k relay is run as two classic legs, then two skate legs. In Oberstdorf the skate loop is much harder than the classic loop, so don't be surprised if the skate times are a bit slower than expected. It is a mass start, so I wouldn't be surprised if the group stays pretty well together during the classic, then starts blowing apart on the harder hills in the skate.

I think the favorite is Sweden- they are leading off with classic sprint world champ Jonna Sundling, then have Charlotte Kalla, Ebba Andersson, and Frida Karlsson. Sundling also won gold in the team sprint, so her endurance is clearly there. They will be strong.

Norway will also be excellent with TU Weng and Heidi Weng on classic, and Johaug and Fossesholm on skate. I would expect Johaug to really attack the challenging skate course and blow up the race. She put 54s on the field in the 10k, and could do some real damage here. Fossesholm on the anchor is a first year senior, but she has shown she is more than up for the task this season.

The Russian Ski Federation team is also looking strong, with Stupak, Sorina, and Nepryaeva all having solid results this championship so far. I don't know Kirpichenko as well, but she was 10th in the Skiathlon, so clearly solid. Nepryaeva is still recovering from a couple broken bones in her hand, but it hasn't seemed to impact her too greatly so far.

The US enters with a very good chance at a medal, with a team of Hailey Swirbul, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan, and Jessie Diggins. All four have had some great results this season, but the championship has been tough so far, especially for Hailey and Rosie. Hopefully the wax issues for classic have been resolved and Hailey and Sadie can keep the team in the mix on the first two legs. Rosie going up against Johaug and Andersson is going to be an extreme test, but she was climbing really well early in the 10k skate. Diggins will absolutely send it on the anchor leg, that is guaranteed. If everything comes together I think they can podium.

I don't think any other teams will be a factor, but I could certainly be wrong. Finland was on the podium in Lahti, but the US and Russia are both starter stronger teams tomorrow.

Picks:
1. Sweden
2. Norway
3. USA

This should be one easy victory for Sweden.
The rest of the countries have not had a lot of consistency so anything can happen.
But I will be very surprised if Sweden is not just taking this from the first leg and will be comfortable in front all alone.

Wow, Sweden 1:39 back after two legs.

This is either the end of Kalla`s career, or some of their waxers or both.., devastating for Sweden.
Will be a very interesting fight for 3rd between US and Germany, both nations deserve a medal after slim winnings so far this championship


A

(post written halfway in the 3rd leg)

Oof, that was disappointing. I was worried on that last downhill when it seemed like Krista was easily gliding back into Jessie on every flattish section. Ugh.

The USA women fought so hard. Really one of their best performances ever. Swirbul had an amazing race considering the skis she was working with.

The USA women skis were bad though. The way the Germans were able to stay even with Rosie & Jessie...WTF!

If it had been -10C and even fair conditions the USA would have crushed Finland and medaled. The Finnish skis were probably like 3-5% better than the USA and that is enough for them to stay in contact. Krista just looked like she barely had to work to keep up with Jessie. Jessie was in her pain mode skiing from 1K on; she didn't have any rhythm because she was working with dogs.

Oh well, hopefully the olympics has fair & cold conditions. At least the USA didn't bomb the wax as bad as Sweden. In fair conditions, Sweden might have been able to challenge Norway.

And also NORWAY...what do they do to their skis? They always have perfect skis. It's infuriating.

The entire waxing "fast skis slow skis" is the dumbest part of this sport (and I really like the sport). It would be great if glide wax was just banned (you can ski fine on raw ptex) and everyone gets the same kick wax of the day for classic races and that's it. Skis are stamped before they go into the wax room to get the approved kick wax and they get stamped coming out.

But I realize the practical limitations, so we have what we have. It will be good when high floros are banned but there will always be something else.

So at the top level of skiing, waxing accounts for like 1% of the variance in speed between teams. Nailing the wax isn't that hard; especially in chewed up warm corn snow. As a masters hack, I could probably do a similar wax job to world cup techs. However, there is no way I could compete with a world cup wax tech in terms of selecting skis from a fleet, testing them and then selecting grinds. To win a world champs, you need to have access to the top level of factory support and work well with them.

Ski flex and grinds are way more important than waxing. I would take a good ski with mediocre wax any day over a bad ski with killer wax. Finding the right ski in these conditions is not easy at all.

If every team had to wax with the same wax or no wax, Norway would have an even greater advantage. They have an arsenal of skis and know how to pick them. They bring a grinder with them to world champs. They have skis flown in directly from Norway made for the conditions (see the green base madshus Holund and Fossnholm won on).

I totally agree with you, but at least the waxing part in theory can be neutralized.

It's closer to a max of 3%. https://www.ntnu.edu/.../going-for-the-glide

Even that only amounts for, what, 30 seconds in todays race? Assuming it was the full 3% too.

You're right in that it all works together, and each part is important. "Bad Wax" gets blamed, but it could be any part of the process that failed.

For junior racing we have had a "paraffin series" for years, and it's a great idea. For major events we've talked about standardizing the wax; athletes submit their skis and the wax techs would prep them all equally with the same applications. I hope it happens. When it does, it just means ski selection will be the important part of the process though.

I cannot remember Americans complaining about unfair waxing at the last olympics when Diggens had amazing skis and got a gold medal..........

The first leg women from Sweden used the pair she won gold medal on. So her bad kick was all about the klister.

A nation does not have skis. The athlete has their own skis.
Yes Madshus has shown up with some new skis. But Madshus has been one of the worst skis the last years so they need to improve.
Rossignol is usually good on warm and wet conditions.

Fun fact. Marie Fossesholm is only 19. She is also a medical school student. And jr European champion in mtb.

For juniors in Norway they have tried this setup for a while to reduce the glider/ wax arms race as the cost is getting astronomical even at national junior levels. Everyone hands in their skis the day before and get them the next morning with the same glider on all skis. And no Fluor based waxes are used to prevent harm to the wax techs and the environment.

So far the feedback has been good. But it works best for skate events

Personally I don't view waxing as unfair. It's all part of the game. I was disappointed when it seemed liked Jessie lacked glide compared to Krista, but full credit to the Finnish team. It should also be said that Krista skied an awesome final leg- she's a multiple Olympic medalist for a reason!

For Norway I was impressed by Heidi today. I had picked her to medal in the skiathlon, and while 9th isn't bad by ANY stretch, her leg today was a much better representation of her strength.

I cannot remember Americans complaining about unfair waxing at the last olympics when Diggens had amazing skis and got a gold medal..........


Just can't help yourself, can ya brutha?

---

"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

I am pointing out lack of consistency.
You cannot like waxing only when your favorite skiers are doing well.
Waxing is a part of skiing.

FYI: I have been a xc-skiing coach in the USA so I have done my part.
I do not understand why using a good example as Jessie Diggins amazing skis during the olympics as a problem.
You cannot win on bad skis. More power to her

welp...Dev is Canadian, right? And maybe second, are "Americans' complaining/whining about unfairness or is it more of a complaint directed at the US team (not the athletes, the ski techs) at their inability to provide the athletes with skis that are on par with other countries?

---

"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

I am watching Swedish TV right now.
The Swedes made big mistakes with the klister today.
But do the Swedes ask for similar wax?
No, they are explaining what went wrong.
Waxing is part of the sport.


It is actually quite ironic that on a mostly long distance triathlon discussion from, people are asking for standardized equipment. Especially when most of the discussions are about buying speed.

I see Norway is going Golberg, Iversen, Holund, and Klaebo for the relay.

I'm a bit surprised Krueger with two individual medals in the championship is out. Also a bit surprised to see Golberg over Valnes if you want a classic sprinter in the leadoff. Golberg has only done the individual sprint so he's more rested, and I admittedly don't know their respective distance capacity well.

Certainly an abundance of riches with that team choice!

Any insight Halvard?

to your first point, of course the athletes are not going to throw anyone under the bus (unless they are real douchnozzles). Did any of the US athletes blame the wax in their interviews? I wonder what the typical couch potato Joe Sixpack Swede CC ski fan is saying on the CC Ski interweb forums in Sweden...

To your second point, I agree with you....

---

"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

Goldberg has done very well on distance skiing in Norway this year. It was a suprise that he did not ski the skiathlon. He has better endurance than Klæbo and Iversen (most of the days).
Yes it is strange that Kruger is not on the team. I think the argument is that Holund is set for the 3 leg, Klæbo will do the 4th. Then the coach think Goldberg and Iversen are both better in classic than Kruger. If one of them are failing, it will not be easy to be the coach.

Like with Sweden today. Norway is just a waxing mistake away from not being on the podium tomorrow.

Because I'm west coast and had morning meetings, I just finished watching. I still feel sick to my stomach. Yes, the skis were a huge problem for the US. I saw it on Rosie's leg when she'd gap the German on the uphills, then the German would glide right up to her on the downhills and the flats. Same with Jessie and Krista.

Wax, ski structure and selection have cost Jessie at least 2 medals. She should have been able to drop Krista like a bad habit (beat her by 40 seconds in the 10K). Just awful. I'm glad someone else saw it.

USA better park a f'in wax truck in Beijing so we don't have this nightmare next year.

I do not think we disagree about waxing at pro-level. My concerns is strictly related to cost of participation at the junior levels, and the treshold for young skiers who do not have parents with waxing experience.

I think we can all agree something is wrong when 12 year olds are using Cera style powder and HF glider on their skis for a regional competition. easily 100-150$ per race. But if one person does, then you have to do it to be in contention.

A

I coached Junior and high school level racing for kids in Canada for several years. I would be preparing skis for kids with pro level wax expense because it I did not they would just lose.

The arms race was silly. At the end of the day I could literally know which kids would race fast based on their raw 1 mile and 5000m run times in the autumn. You get a kid with a massive engine and train them technically and the fast skis or slow skis eventually the big engines with the good technique shine thru. You can't have them on slow was. It is just unfair to those kids.

The kids whose parents were top masters racers always had fast skis and fast wax but I had to make sure that I put the kids with big engines without skier parents on fast skis and fast wax so they could out gun the kids with the home front advantage (maybe I was more sympathetic to kids without the ski and wax arsenal at home because I grew up in a non sporting family and my coaches in all sports in high school brought me into the competitive sport world).

But it would be awesome if we could just levelize the waxing variable. Everyone drops off their selected skis the day before and they all get done exactly the same .

Halvard this is not about random people on a triathlon forum complaining about the equipment side of ski racing. It's atheletes and coaches who are skiers talking about skiing on a ski thread. Almost everyone who posted on this thread knows what they are talking about (at least we are not all clueless). it's the same on this forum when you get on the fish thread. People on that thread know far more than many swim coaches

Yes but now all flouros are banned in high school and college racing at least here in the US. My daughters raced here in New Hampshire which has a highly competitive high school racing scene and while some kids were really over the top with wax I would say it was a fairly level field. Most kids had a couple of pair for of skate and classic skiis and made due.

Men’s relay this morning, Norway is certainly the favorite but yesterday showed anything can happen. Russia likely second.

Third could be close with France, Sweden, Finland, maybe Switzerland.

US starting a strong group, excited to see how they go.

Picks:
1. Norway
2. Russia
3. Finland

Based on the Nowegian waxing, maybe you should pick Russia as #1.
Waxing is part of the sport, and today Norway failed on the first leg.

Maybe, we'll see. Iivo is really pulling this second group back towards Russia. I think it's going to get spicy.

Norway tried to outsmart everybody else and go with klister when it is zero condition.
Luckily, the Russian on the second leg does not have a good day.
This race is full of surprises.

Iversen did well on the 2nd leg.

Leg 4 and Maki is sitting on Bolshunov. Good times.

Klaebo strolling along waiting for Bolshunov...

That was a fun race to watch- result ended up pretty predictably, but lots of twists and turns to get there.

Congrats to France on the bronze, they looked stoked.

Best part of the race was Klaebo trolling Bolshunov, then making him his bitch on the last hill. Happy the tactic worked out, but was kinda worried something would go wrong. Did I mention I hate Bolshunov? Kept waiting for him to punch Klaebo.

Happy for France (and Sweden).

Looks like Jessie is skiing the 30k classic. Interesting. I don't think she has a showball's chance in Hades, but with the cuckoo for cocoa puffs weather, waxing and skis, ya never know.

I'm seeing Sadie, Hailey, Katharine, and Sophia on the 30k start list for USA.

Sadie has announced it will be her last professional race.

maybe i misunderstood the commentators about Jessie. I wish Sadie and Simi would stick it out for one more year (Olympics).

If you do not like xc-skiing in Norway. This will happen to you.
Context:
The woman in the car is actually the Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg.
The "doctor" is Thomas Alsgaard. Former top skier.
https://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqdVcGGDh0

I don't speak a word of it, but that's awesome! Thanks for sharing

Well, Therese by 2:30+ today... impressive.

Sunday 3/6 @ 7am Men's 50k Classic Mass Start

Like the rest of the distance races at this world champs, this will likely be a battle between Russia and Norway, with a Finn and maybe a Swede or Swiss athlete in the mix.

For Russia, Alexander Bolshunov comes in as a favorite after winning the 50k at Holmenkollen last year, and dominating distance races on the world cup this season. He won the skiathlon earlier in the championship, but was denied a podium in the 15k. Expect Bolshunov to try and push the pace and string things out, especially with some fast Norwegians in the field. I was also impressed by Chervotkin on the first leg of the Russian relay, and he could be in the mix.

As expected, Norway brings multiple contenders with Iversen, Krueger, and Holund all medaling in distance at this championship, and Golberg having something to prove after a poor ski choice in the relay. The Norwegians are also starting Klaebo, and if he can be with the group coming into the stadium it's game over.

IIvo Niskanen from Finland is the 2018 Olympic Champ in the 50k classic and was skiing extremely well in the relay. Jens Burman has had some nice results lately for Sweden (he also has a good Vlog), and Dario Cologna from Switzerland has been skiing well. Probably a way outside pick, but would love to see Andrew Musgrave from GBR have a good one after a strong showing in the skiathlon (the British team has a great podcast, btw).

For the USA we have David Norris, Scott Patterson, Hunter Wonders, and Gus Schumacher. Gus was 4th in the 30k classic at the 2020 US Nationals, but it will be interesting to see him over 50k.

Picks:
1. Bolshunov
2. Iversen
3. Niskanen

Great long distance morning here in Norway.
Started the day with Vasaloppet on TV and coffee.
Gjerdalen won the 90k race in 3.28. It is classic and everybody double poled of course.
Korsgreen won over Bjørgen among the women in 3.52.

Anders Aukland won the 45-49 with a sub 3.30 race.

Now soon the 50k :-)

Amazing watching Klaebo corner and descend in this 50k. If he's there on that descent into the sprint course on the last lap....

Back to my comment earlier in this thread. Can any one comment on why the women do not race the same distance as men in all distances including the 50km classic. Joan Benoit put this to bed in 1984 with her 2:24 run at the LA Olympics Marathon. We're sitting here 37 years later and women are still being patronized like they are weaklings when that was disspelled ages ago. Doesn't this just signal to all women in and outside this sport that the men running this sport feel women are second class?

I thought it was kind of lame watching the Calgary Olympics (Sarajevo 1984 happened before LA 84, so Joan had not delivered the so called "proof" yet, but by Calgary she had, and women were already putting doing incredible times in Kona). But if track can have a marathon back in 1984 (and the Blue suits at IAAF I put in the same category as Blue Suits at FIFA and UCI) then what is the hold up in XC skiing?

I would love to have the same distances.
That will be great for Norway.

its not about Norway. You're conflating why this is a society wide challenge. We see the same thing in WTA Tennis. I don't think Serena with her size would be as dominant in a 5 set format (by the way, I am huge fan of her). 5 Sets is a slightly different animal compared to 3 sets. Those 5 hrs marathon finals between Federer and Djokovic were amazing. Fans are deprived of that on the women's side. And over an XC championship doing slighlty longer events every few days all adds up by the time you get to the 50km on the final day. Its too bad women athletes cannot access the same challenge this many years later.

Anway, whether it is FIS events, UCI cycling, WTA tennis....whatever, its not about Norway, its about women in sport having equal access. If Norway wins even more that is awesome for Norway.

Yes it is a greater issue.

A lot of countries have a lot of work to do.


https://www.weforum.org/...0-years-pay-equality

Klæbo won and Iversen got gold.
Great race. Great championship.

Happy we got a championship this year. Luckily vaccine will make it easier for the rest of the year.

Does skiing have a redress mechanism (my background is in sailing)?

Klaebo getting DSQ'd doesn't really make up for the damage his rule infraction caused to Bolshunov's race.

I am not an expert in FIS rules. But my understanding is that if one athlete gets disqualified. Everybody else gets moved up on place.
Unless FIS changes its mind. Iversen is the winner, and Klæbo is DQ is the results.

Jessie's thoughts on the World Champs. Good read: https://jessiediggins.com/world-champs-2021/

IBU has redress similar to sailing, but not FIS

as a sailor i really hope that we do not evolve skiing down the road of to many rules and protest hearings (like sailing has). I have spent to much time in protest rooms over the years.

Andreas

Not really replying to anyone in particular. Just found it odd that both Sophie Caldwell and Sadie Bjornsen are retiring the year before an Olympic games. I would've thought both of them would have stuck around, especially Bjornsen since she didn't get to be part of the sprint team that won gold.

Agreed. Sadie would be invaluable on the relay skiing a classic leg. And isn't the sprint skate in the Olympics? Sophie would be a great option, even though she had a not so great 20-21. Same with Simi. I'm shaking me head.

I know Sadie got her degree and CPA, but it's only one more year.