October 19, 2006 – Many of the top Worldcup racers switched to Atomic this past summer.

One German coach made the remark, “It is like the other ski companies are the tired old husbands who take their trophy wives for granted and they are surprised when the wives leave them for some handsome young stud. The athletes are like the trophy wives and Atomic is the handsome young stud. All the top athletes are leaving the tired old husbands and they are switching to Atomic.” Claudia Kuenzel of Germany is one of the top athletes Atomic “took away” this past summer. The 28 year old native of Zschopau has earned Gold and Silver medals at the Olympics and the Nordic World Championships. She is recognized as perhaps the most versatile athlete on the Worldcup with victories in sprint and distance events in both skate and classic. She is also a respected artist whose paintings have received positive reviews by European critics. Claudia married former US coach Trond Nystad last summer. The following interview took place at the couple’s home in southern Germany.

Hi Claudia, can we start right off by asking you to evaluate or rate
your results from last winter?

The World Cup season was ok in December, but after that I was sick
for a while. My two medals at Olympics was therefore something I was
very happy with. Overall I was happy with the Olympics results, but
a little disappointed in my World Cup performance.


How is this summer’s training different from last summer’s training?

I have kept about the same training as last year, but done a little
less volume and a little less specific training. Other than that I
am training like usual.


What does your summer training consist of? Do you spend much time
with team mates?

I think my summer training is like any other skier at my level. I
run, rollerski, bike, swim and do strength in the weight room. A
normal week is about 15-20 hours. We have had one training camp in
Italy as a team. The rest of the time I have trained with my
training group in Oberhof (with Manuela Henkel and Antje Maempel) .
In the beginning of September is the next team training camp. We
then go 10 days to Ramsau to ski.

What role does your husband Trond play in your training? Does he
work with your national team coach or does he stay out of it
completely?

Trond is the coach for our training group, so he is very involved
with the day to day training. Trond and my old coach Lutz Haenel
work together as a team with training planning and monitoring.

Is he able to work out with you, or is he no longer at that level of fitness?

Trond can run with us most of the time, but I hope this is not his
best fitness ever. I do for instance not wish to say too much about
his performance a few weeks ago in the uphill time trial.


CLAUDIA AT THE TORINO OLYMPICS

I have to admit that as an American I find it both intimidating and
impressive when I am at an area where the German ski team is
training. Part of it is the sheer size. On an Olympic year, how
many athletes will the German Ski Team send to a place like the
Dachstein for fall training?

The German team is pretty large. We have about 30 athletes at
various levels of the national team, all of these athletes gets to
prepare at Dachstein for the coming season. For World Cup we
normally travel with about 6 women and 8 men.

Another part of the intimidation factor is the level of
professionalism of the German team. Not only are all of you in the
National Team uniforms when skiing, you are all in matching uniforms
for dry land training as well. Even indoors, I noticed the German
team was wearing matching uniforms by Adidas in the weight room in
Ramsau. I know you have done some training with the US Ski Team.
The Americans will do their dry land training in a hotchpotch of
college and pro team t-shirts and a mix of soccer shorts and running
shorts. They look like the cast from RENT. What are your feelings
about the contrast.? Do you think the Americans might have a higher
level of confidence if they started dressing more like a team?

Clothes never made then man – the most important thing is that people
work out and approach the sport professionally. I find it pretty
cool that the Americans have a variety of clothes to work out in.
The reason why we all have the same clothes is because we probably
have a much better deal with our sponsor than what the US Ski Team
has. Sponsorships are always important. We have to wear the
official German Ski Team uniforms at all official training camps and
races and present our sponsors well at such events. Confidence comes
from achieving your goals in training and in competitions, and not
from the clothes a sponsor gives you. Uniforming is however
important for team recognition.

I can’t help but notice the huge fleet of Audi’s that the German team
has. It looks like most of the athletes have been given their own
cars. Is that correct?

Several of the athletes have gotten Audi’s, but it is not an
automatic thing. Only athletes that are top 15 in the overall World
Cup or have an individual medal from World Championships or Olympics
are eligible to get a car. The athletes can only use the Audi for
business purposes. When the car is used for personal use each
athlete has to pay a huge amount of tax for the car. The German tax
system does not allow for a free car, so normally the car ends up
costing 500 Euros per month. Most of the cars you see are cars for
coaches and other people in official functions with the German Ski
Team.

You are married to the former US Ski Team coach. He raced for quite
a few years in the US before he became our coach. Between
conversations with your husband, and your own observations, you must
have some idea what America can do to become more competitive. What
would you suggest?

It is hard to say exactly what is needed as I do not know the system
well enough to have a valid opinion. I have seen several Americans
that train hard and compete well. When every skier in the US
approaches the sport like what I have seen from the US Ski Team
members then I think the results will come.

It was not that long ago that Germany had results similar to the US.
Now Germany is a major Nordic power that could possibly be the medal
leader at the 2007 World’s. Can you give a brief summary of what
Germany did to become so competitive in such a short time?

Germany decided to create training centers for cross country skiing
and to do everything as professionally as possible. Each training
center had good coaches and several talented athletes to work with.
The results you have seen the last few years are due to a lot of hard
work and also some luck. We were lucky to have good athletes that
wanted to work hard to become good. Lesson learned is that to become
a good skier one must work hard and be in an environment that is
supportive.

Atomic is very excited to have you on our skis and boots for this
coming season. What made you decide to change to Atomic?

I was impressed with the service and commitment from Roman, Peter and
the rest of the service staff. They work extremely hard and well to
ensure that each skier gets the skis needed to achieve top results.

How do you like working with Roman Toferer and Peter Jurich? They
can be pretty colorful at times. Some people on the Worldcup are a
little frightened of our staff.

They are very nice people and great to work with. It is great from
an athlete’s perspective when you know that your sponsor works as
hard as you to achieve great results. I have no ideas why people are
frightened by them – hard to find nicer and harder working people. I
am looking forward to working with them and with Atomic in the years
to come.