04/19/24
November 29, 2006
NORDIC SKIING ON THE RISE.: Can young Matt Gelso break the spell on the U.S. cross country team's dismal Olympic record? SF Chronicle Magazine article re: a sport that US has been sucky at. I have a personal interest in that cross-country skiing was my first intro to snow sports (I now prefer downhill), and because I attended a few races where I threw drinks at my best buddy, who was competing (it was more fun and meaningful than that).
posted by worldcup2002 to other at 01:09 AM - 7 comments
Sorry, wc2k2, I couldn't hear you?
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:07 PM on November 29, 2006
Seriously, why did it take so long for the U.S. to figure out they had to get the development of these skiers started earlier? How do other countries get their guys ready, or is the sport more ingrained there and so it's not necessary?
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:21 PM on November 29, 2006
In the states there are a lot of places where you can grow you some good nordic skiers -- my local high school routinely beats the dog out of everyone else in the state because what else are you gonna do in the woods in winter? But at the earlier levels, it is a bit of a money sport -- the gear ain't cheap -- and good coaches are not easy to come by. Biathlon? The big issue there is a course. Getting permitted for the shooting part is very, very difficult, otherwise we'd have plenty of local biathletes.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:04 PM on November 29, 2006
Getting permitted for the shooting part is very, very difficult, otherwise we'd have plenty of local biathletes. Too bad it doesn't snow in Florida or Texas, huh?
posted by wfrazerjr at 06:51 PM on November 29, 2006
Now if some North American country just could find a decent skiier that can shoot straight, we could compete in the biathalon as well. Ahem. Granted, that was more than 10 years ago now ...
posted by Amateur at 02:53 PM on November 30, 2006
... and in more recent news ...
posted by Amateur at 09:10 PM on November 30, 2006
Whoo! Go Matt! Now if some North American country just could find a decent skiier that can shoot straight, we could compete in the biathalon as well. Truth be told, I'm kinda surprised that we aren't flush with kids from the Upper Midwest that want to give the biathalon a try. But I guess looking back on my Upper Midwestern youth, all I wanted to do outside was downhill ski and ride snowmobiles. I enjoyed watching the biathalon on TV, but I never wanted to actually strap my .30-.30 on my back and go skiing for 4 hours in zero degree weather.