February 23, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Greetings from Norway! Ahvo, master’s coach, coach of many successful international level Minnesota skiers and owner of FinnSisu Inc. in Saint Paul, MN, and Ritva Taipale, PhD student and club-level junior coach in Jyväskylä, Finland, have found their way to the 2011 Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway.

“Electric” does not even begin to describe the atmosphere surrounding this event, and the party has only just begun. During the World Championships we will try to keep you updated on the action around the races and behind the scenes including pictures, interviews and written commentary.

Holmenkollen is one of Norway’s most visited tourist attractions and is among the most well-known sporting “arenas” in the world. The area recently underwent quite a bit of construction in preparation for the 2011 World Championships, so it can also be considered the most modern sporting arena in the world. The renovations in the area have, however, only just begun. Some smaller ski jumping hills will be added in addition to the ones used during the World Championships to make this venue a great training site for athletes of all ages and abilities. At the press-conference this morning, we were told this venue is built for the future of skiing in Norway and that it is only an added plus that we get to utilize it for the World Championships this year.

In September, the area around the arena was still closed off to the public, but now it is in tip-top shape and buzzing with athletes, coaches, support staff, media, spectators and school groups (How’s that for an awesome school “field trip”?)! There are a lot of people here. Here is the run-down from the opening press-conference this morning: 1600 media representatives, 2200 volunteers, 250 male and 150 female cross-country athletes, 60 male ski jumpers, 40 female ski jumpers and 80 nordic combined athletes. This year is the first time that prize money will be offered to the podium winners.

More information about the venue Holmenkollen HERE.

As you know, today is the opening day of the World Championships and also the first day of competition. This year there is a 5km women/10km men classic qualification race in which skiers who are not yet qualified to ski in the World Championships have a shot to qualify. The top 10 skiers from these qualification races will earn their right to start in the interval start races on Monday and Tuesday.

Skiers are preparing for the races, as are their wax techs. We snagged a few pre-action interviews:

Jessie Diggins

Kikkan Randall

Justin Wadsworth

Canadian Wax room

Finnish team wax tech

A few tid-bits from the news over here:

*The Northug fan club has gotten so big that he cannot use public transportation because 40-60 year old women want to sit his knee and take a picture with him. (from iltasanomat.fi this morning)

*Apparently it is now possible to be caught “blood packing” (the process of drawing blood, storing it and reinjecting into circulation, a process that has reportedly become more common with increased testing for EPO and similar substances). Iltalehti (a Finnish newspaper) reports that this new method for catching dopers is able to detect particles from the bags/tubes that bloods is stored in – read more HERE.

*According to Expressen (Swedish newspaper) there are a number of skiers from the former Soviet Union (e.g. Russia, Estonia, Kazakhstan) who are on a so-called FIS “black list”.

…and a random piece of knowledge for the winter tourist in Oslo:

*Don’t drive with your studded tires in the Oslo Centrum without a coupon for permission or you might get slapped with 750 Norwegian crown fine! (We learned this from an unsuspecting wax tech) – coupons cost 40 Norwegian crowns per day.