February 07, 2006

Cross Country Checkup: Sportsfilter's 2006 Winter Olympic preview continues

No air time, no style points, and gravity is not your ally. If you're a fan of the X-Games, this might not be for you. But if you want to see some of the world's fittest athletes go head-to-head on skis, head on out to Prageleto, site of the cross country skiing for 2006.

THE EVENTS

The event program in cross country skiing has changed a dizzying number of times. There are twelve events in the Olympics; six for men, and six for women. The events for 2006 are:

Cross Country Ski Events at the 2006 Olympics.

	Women's	Men's	Date of Final
Pursuit	15 km	30 km	12 Feb
Team Sprint	3×1.2 km	3×1.4 km	14 Feb
Classical	10 km	15 km	16/17 Feb
Relay	4×5 km	4×10 km	18/19 Feb
Sprint	1.2 km	1.4 km	22 Feb
Freestyle (Mass Start)	30 km	50 km	24/26 Feb

The glamour event of the Games will be the men's relay. Over the last three Olympics, the largest margin of victory in this monster has been 0.04 seconds, with Italy and Norway trading victories. Those two powers are expected to duke it out again this year.

THE PLAYERS

It does not take a specialized venue to do cross country ski training. The only real requirements are an abundance of accessible snow and a capacity for backbreaking work. Nevertheless, cross country skiing is still dominated by old-world powers Norway, Italy, Russia, Germany, and Sweden. This year promises to be little different. Multiple medal threats include Norway's Marit Bjoergen and Germany's Tobias Angerer.

Relative upstarts Canada and the US have had remarkably little success. Canada has two legitimate medal hopes in 2006: defending Olympic champion Beckie Scott, and 2005 world championship bronze medallist Sara Renner. Both are stronger in the shorter distances. The USA team will pin their slim hopes on Kris Freeman and Andy Newell. The team also includes Sarah Konrad, who has the novelty of being the first US athlete to compete in two different sports (cross country and biathlon) at the same Olympic games.

THE DARK SIDE

Alone among winter Olympic sports, cross country skiing has a history of doping scandals. The cheats of choice are similar to those used in cycling, principally blood doping and EPO. The most infamous positives came at the 2002 winter Olympics, where the disqualifications of Russians Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina eventually gave Canada's Beckie Scott the gold medal.

A QUICK Q&A

WHAT'S CLASSICAL? WHAT'S FREESTYLE?

"Classical" and "Freestyle" describe cross country techniques. Classical skiing is like running on skis; the skis remain parallel to the direction of travel, staying in narrow tracks. In freestyle skiing, skiers are allowed to use a skating technique; the toe of the pushing ski is turned outwards, and the poles are used in a two-handed motion. This technique requires a broad, groomed trail, and is faster than the classical style.

Classical races are generally started with an interval stagger, whereas freestyle races have a mass start. Freestyle and classical skiing require different equipment, as well; many athletes do compete in both, though (see especially the pursuit below).

WHY DO THEY SOMETIMES DO THAT DOUBLE-POLE THING?

When a classical race reaches a flat or very slightly uphill section, you will see many of the skiers use a double-pole technique, where the skier's feet remain together and propulsion is with the arms only. This is because at high speeds the snow is moving by so quickly that the classical "step-and-kick" style cannot be used efficiently.

WHAT'S A PURSUIT?

In a pursuit, there are two legs of equal distance. First, the competitors race a classical leg, against the clock with a staggered start. Their time in the classical leg determines the order of departure in the freestyle leg, with the fastest finishers starting first and the slower ones "in pursuit." The first racer across the line is the winner.

WHY DON'T THE SKIS SLIP ON THE SNOW?

Wax. A soft "grip wax" is used on the area right under the skier's foot. A harder "glide wax" is used at the ends of the skis. The skis have a stiff camber so that the middle "grip" section contacts the snow only when the skier deliberately presses down on one foot or the other.

Of course this is vastly oversimplified; teams typically employ at least a half a dozen wax technicians to look after the subtleties.

posted by Amateur to commentary at 09:17 PM - 0 comments