November 15, 2011 (Norway) – Norwegian star, Marit Bjoergen, recently criticized the phenomenon of all-female training groups, which have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly in North America, as a way to recruit and retain female athletes in the sport of cross-country skiing.

In comments to Langrenn.com regarding recent initiatives in her own country to create all-female training environments, Bjoergen claimed that such efforts amount to “pampering” female athletes. “We should not be pampered. We girls can tolerate as much exercise as boys,” she is quoted as saying. “To be good at cross-country is all about hard work for a long time … On our team we train very hard and perhaps as much as the guys,” she added.

Speaking to Langrenn.com, a board member from the Norwegian Ski Federation, Hermod Bjorkestol, defended the initiatives however: “I think it’s okay to establish their own projects for girls to attract new athletes to the sport.” But Bjorkestol agreed with Bjoergen’s position when it comes to the elite levels of the sport: “When they start to train seriously, I agree with Marit that girls and boys should work together.”

Bjoergen’s comments will no doubt be controversial in light of the number of initiatives adopted in recent years to promote all-female training environments, such as Fast and Female, the Canmore-based organization that runs training events for girls and young women across North America and that was founded by Canadian skier Chandra Crawford. Many of the top female cross country skiers in North America are Fast and Female “Ambassadors” for cross-country skiing who routinely participate in Fast and Female events for girls, including Kikkan Randall, Alysson Marshall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, as well as retired Canadian skiers Beckie Scott and Sara Renner.

Bjoergen’s comments also seem to cast doubt on the value of other initiatives, such as the joint Canada-US all-female training camp that was held on Alaska’s Eagle Glacier last summer, dubbed the North American Women’s Training Alliance, and in which most of the two countries’ top female cross-country skiers participated, including Crawford and Randall. The Canadian women opted for the joint camp instead of joining the national team’s traditional camp at the Snow Farm in New Zealand.

Cross Country Canada also implemented a national Female Talent Squad program in 2010-2011 which was designed to “provide support and incentives to young female athletes to assist them with their development,” according to a press release issued at the time. The initiative including a mentorship system connecting emerging athletes with senior and/or retired athletes, as well as funding for special camps and educational materials.

Lisa Patterson, CCC’s High Performance Coordinator for Eastern Canada, defended the initiative and others like it. “The Female Talent Squad administered by CCC last year was a very good program to encourage females to stay in the sport of cross-country skiing during their vulnerable drop-out years. This program also provided some tools by way of seminars and special guest to help make these females better athletes, and to provide a safe venue to share questions and concerns specific to female athletes,” she told SkiTrax by email.

Patterson continued saying, “…an initiative such as Fast and Female is a fantastic recruiter of females to the sport and also has the goal of keeping these same female athletes in the sport longer and provides positive role modelling to younger females.

“As a former elite athlete, I would have loved to have been a part of an all female training group for some of the training year,” she added. “Regardless of whether it is a co-ed environment or all-female environment, an elite female athlete will work as hard as they possibly can to become the best athlete they can be.”

See the Langrenn report HERE.