November 23, 2012 (Gällivare, Sweden) – Already for the 6th time the FIS Cross-Country World Cup starts 100 km north of the Arctic Circle, in the capital of the Norrbotten County, Gällivare. On November 24-25 World’s best Cross-Country season will start their quest for the Crystal Globes, FIS Tour de Ski wins and medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013.

Good weather conditions made possible that already on October 24 the organizing committee could open the first Cross-Country loop. On Saturday a FIS competition was organized to check for the last that everything is ready for the grand opening.

“The conditions in Gällivare are absolutely perfect, i look forward to the World Cup opening here,” said Dario Colonga who won Gällivarepremiären this weekend on the fastest time ever on the World cup tracks.

Almost 50 cm of snow lies in Gällivare and all the tracks have been groomed and prepared for the World’s Cross-Country skiing elite that is expected to start arriving from Monday. “Everything is set for the World Cup opening and the heat is on in Gällivare, everybody looks forward to the coming weekend,” Chief of Competition Lars-Gunnar Pettersson said.

The winter festival starts already on Friday afternoon at 18:00 in downtown Gällivare with the Opening Ceremony and bibs hand over to the best ladies and men from the last season. Already 5000 World Cup hats have been sold. The hat, introduced in 2010, has become very popular and works as a ticket to the competitions.

“It feels fantastic! The interest in the World Cup opening has never been as big as now. Everybody wants to be a part of the World Cup festival. Hats are sold out and all sponsor packages were sold out a month ago, the whole community is now waiting for the competitions. We hope to set a new spectators record,” Tommy Niva, LOC Chief said.

Official Start Lists
– Women HERE
– Men HERE

2011 Winners

10 km Free Ladies
1.    Marit Bjoergen    NOR
2.    Charlotte Kalla    SWE
3.    Arianna Follis    ITA

15 km Free Men
1.    Marcus Hellner    SWE
2.    Dario Cologna    SUI
3.    Daniel Rickardsson    SWE

4×5 km Relay C/F Ladies
1.    Norway I (Skofterud, Steira, Johaug, Bjoergen)
2.    Sweden I (Johansson Norgren, Haag, Rydqvist, Kalla)
3.    Italy I (Genuin, Longa, Rupil, Follis)

4×10 km Relay C/F Men
1.    Sweden I (Larsson, Olsson, Rickardsson, Hellner)
2.    Russia I (Belov, Vylegzhanin, Sedov, Legkov)
3.    Norway I (Roenning, Johnsrud Sundby, Jespersen, Roethe)

Competition Schedule 2012

November 24, 2012
10km Free Ladies, 10:30 CET
15km Free Men, 12:30 CET

November 25, 2012
4x5km Relay Ladies, 10:30 CET|
4×7,5km Relay Men, 12:15 CET