March 09, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Sorry for the delay but we ended up with very slow internet connections over the final few days of the Oslo competitions, and also traveling home made for more sketchy internet connections. Here are some last impressions about our final days in Oslo.

Women’s Relay – Day 9
Back to the races – on site! The end of the World Championships is approaching which means it’s time for the relays and the final “King” and “Queen” of the distance races. Over the past few days there have been some holes in the crowd as many fans have had to return to work or school but tickets are more or less sold-out for rest of the Championships and we expect some intense racing!

As mentioned before, we have observed great sportsmanship here and while skiers are certainly competitive and driven, they are also very gracious and dare I say “normal” people despite their status. As journalists here we have seen what’s been written and how it was written, as well as the athletes in action, on the trails, and at the press conferences and there is somewhat of a difference.

The headlines do not always give the true picture, though it seems that some controversy can be good for the sport since we seem to survive the headlines. It’s only natural that some characteristics of a skier are either highlighted or ignored and skiers sometimes exchange words with each other that seem unnecessary – but taken out of context these things are sometimes made into a bigger deal than the skiers themselves think they are.

Aside from watching the races and enjoying the incomparable level of energy in the stadium, after a “recovery” dinner, we ventured over to the Finnish Team’s hotel to have a celebratory piece of cake with the medal winners, their teammates, and the coaching staff – see more photos HERE.

We also caught up with Andreas Bennert from One Way:

Men’s Relay – Day 10
We thought yesterday was crazy and loud (Women’s Relay). But Wow – today was even louder. Are these Norwegian fans just getting “warmed-up”? Today’s racing was unbelievable!! (but you’re all aware of the results already, so I will not go into detail. Suffice it to say that this race also required spectators to go find recovery food and drink after the competition. Whew.

Before the race started a group of old guys walked into the stadium. They looked like they were familiar with all of the hoopla… in fact, they looked very familiar. They were none other than Oddvar Brå, Harald Gronningen, Tormod Knutsen, Gjermund Eggen, Odd Martinsen and Vladimir Smirnoff!

Those guys hold more medals than any group you could possibly find “by accident” on the race-course. This is definitely the mecca of Nordic skiing. Thomas Alsgaard was a regular commentator on NRK (Norwegian TV), Bente Skari was Chief of Competition, Yelena Välbe was seen regularly (she is coaching now), Björn Daehlie was hanging out… and this is just to name a few of the medal winners and former World Cup and Olympic skiers that were at Holmenkollen.

Here are some of the folks we sought-out/ran into today.

Finnish Member of FIS

Chief of Competition – John Aalberg

Catching up with Atomic’s Roman Toferer

Taking a look inside the Norwegian wax truck with Knut Nystad

Chatting with Marit Bjoergen’s personal wax tech

Wrap Up
The races were followed up with some Italian food with our cousin/niece. Ritva balanced out the racing excitement with a trip to a concert with her cousin (Tord Gustavsen – Norwegian jazz musician – if you like jazz, especially piano jazz, I recommend looking up this guy and/or his trio – the music takes you to another place).

The concert was held in Oslo’s Cathedral (more info HERE), which recently re-opened after some renovations. The church is beautiful, but the pews sure are hard to sit on after a day of running around Holmenkollen!

On Saturday morning, Ahvo returned to the US for the Junior Olympic action while I stayed in Oslo, but opted to stay in town and take in the excitement from another vantage point. Part of me wishes I had gone up to the race course as the sun finally came out but I opted to try something new. My flight on Sunday left early enough in the evening that I had to read up about the 50km later.

The trails will seem a bit quieter after this experience, but I think it is safe to say that both Ahvo and I have some really fond memories of this trip. I know that he has wanted to watch the Word Championships in Norway for a long time (15 or more years), and I decided that I wanted to watch the WC in Norway after watching his videos from the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994 and experiencing a little Nordic World Ski Championships in 1995 when the whole family went to the WC in Thunder Bay.

I am still trying to figure out if this want/need to go to Holmenkollen for the WC is a result of nature or nurture. I doubt that any country can stage the Nordic Worlds as well as the Norwegians can, and I have a hard time imagining that there could be a more ski-crazy nation. I also wonder who makes the Norwegian flags… they must have a pretty fat checkbook by now.

At this point I would also like to mention the hotel that we stayed at – the Hotel Guldsmeden Carlton Oslo (more info HERE). The hotel was on the smaller side and has only been open since about October. They are currently polishing off a spa in the basement and have very comfortable rooms, a tasty breakfast buffet and nice location not too far from the harbor, public transportation and Oslo center.

The staff were fantastic during our stay. I have never met a more hospitable and friendly group of hotel staff in all of my travels. Should you be traveling to Oslo in the near future, check this place out and say hi to the hotel manager Kim (who speaks impeccable English and is actually from Denmark).

For a quick look around the lobby with Kim, check out this video:

That’s it for now! We hope you all have enjoyed reading about our adventures (and secrets) and also hope that at least some of the excitement from this event has been transferred to you through our coverage here at SkiTrax. An event like this is an excellent reminder of the many positive things that can be experience and absorbed from our sport.

Keep on skiing!

February 26, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – There was not so much action on the cross-country skiing side of things on Friday. Skiers were out training and technicians and coaches were testing waxes. The weather has changed from being coldish to being wet and a bit sloppy. We didn’t bring our rubber-boots, but probably should have… check out photos from our adventures today HERE.

The fog rolled in this morning and was so thick atop Holmenkollen that you could barely see 50 meters (if that)! This did not deter the ski jumping competitions (which are best watched on TV if you want to see anything more than the skier coming out of the clouds at the bottom of the hill), but it made things interesting for jumpers and spectators alike. More than one skier stated that they could not see a thing. (Our pictures barely do justice to the visibility; it got even worse as the day wore on).

At least one cross-country skier today briefly got lost while cruising the sprint course and the 5km (that skier’s name is name is Ahvo – but he found his way back to the wax cabins though).

Due to the fog and the lack of racing action on the cross-country side of things, today was a good day for checking out some history and culture in the area. We checked out the Edvard Munch exhibit located in Oslo’s center close to the medals plaza and hit up the Holmenkollen ski museum and chapel.

Edvard Munch, a famous Norwegian artist (more info HERE) born in 1863, has his artwork represented in eight sculptures made of ice and snow by internationally recognized artists featured in the city center.

The Ski Museum at Holmenkollen (more info HERE) is said to be the oldest museum in the world that specializes in skiing history. The museum was founded in 1923 at a location not far from its present location (since the 1952 Olympics) under the large jumping hill. The museum has exhibits about Norwegian explorers like Fridtjof Nansen (more info HERE) and Roald Amundsen (more info HERE) as well as a history of skis, ski making, Norwegian skiing heroes, and the royal family’s participation in ski sports.

The Holmenkollen Chapel is one of the most popular in Norway for weddings including baptisms, funerals, concerts, regular Sunday services and church festivals are also held there. The steeple of the chapel – when there is no fog – can be seen from the center of Oslo and is said to remind Olso and its visitors “of the self-expression of humanity and the joy of sport”.

The chapel was re-dedicated in 1996 and is similar to the previous chapel that stood in the same spot but was destroyed by arson in 1992. The construction method is traditional of Norwegian stave churches (more info HERE) from the 11th and 12th centuries and includes stained-glass windows a per the chapel brochure.

Tidbits for the day:
While Northug seems satisfied yesterday in the official press-conference after the sprints and even commented the better man had won, the Norweigan papers (like Aftenposten) reported this morning that Northug still says he is a better sprinter than Marcus Hellner in man-to-man races… but isn’t that what yesterday’s race was?

Marit Bjoergen is a tiger! After struggles in previous seasons, Bjoergen started working with a sport psychologist who told her to visualize herself as a hunting tiger out on the trails. The night before the sprint races she was frightened to find a tiger in her bed. It was only a stuffed animal (likely left by her sport psychologist) which startled her and then gave her a laugh (from yesterday’s press conference).

There was an interesting choice of photos for DagensNyheter (Swedish newspaper www.dn.se) with Petter Northug, Marcus Hellner and Emil Jönsson at the medal ceremony. Northug is clearly looking at the gold medal in Hellner’s hand. We suspect this picture was chosen on purpose… Norwegians and Swedes are a bit competitive. When we boarded the train this afternoon while chatting with a race volunteer, he was only able to whisper that a Swede and won yesterday.

Ahvo commented after the opening ceremonies and first medal ceremony that it seems that Norway has lost some of its Norwegian-ness. When he attended the Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 1994, the ceremonies were filled with Norwegian music and traditions whereas the flavor of these World Championships was much more international. Most music was in English and the show had a “Las Vegas-esque” feel.

Some videos from yesterday:
Chatting with a family in Oslo city-center about the sprints

Folk dance group gathered at Holmenkollen

Chatting with a family on the trail-side before the sprints

February 25, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Greetings from Norway and our Day 2 insider report…Ahvo, 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, are at the 2011 Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway – read on for more behind the scenes news from OSLO 2011… more photos HERE – Day 1 report HERE.

Some headlines from the papers today:

From Iltalehti
Timo Seppälä, the Finnish anti-doping expert states that 1 in 4 cross-country skiers at this event have used doping at some point in their career.

Sweden’s Emil Joensson is not feeling any pressure in today’s race. He just needs luck on his side and a good position in the start of the final sprint. (He was first in Drammen and is considered among the favourites today).

Matti Heikkinen has prepared for these World Championships in a different way than most athletes. His coach, Toni Roponen told Iltalehti that he has done 2-2.5km intervals at 95% heart rate max in the days leading up to the races. Some athletes have a “Mercedes diesel engine block, but Heikkinen’s body needs an extreme tune-up like a quick-firing Porsche gasoline engine”.

From yle.fi
Your dental hygiene is important for top performance! Martti Jylhä spent some of his preparation time for the Worlds in the dentist’s chair getting cavities filled. After Liberec, Jylhä found himself overly worn-out, so he went for a blood test and made an appointment with his dentist. Once the cavities were filled, his energy levels returned. He commented that not having taken care of his teeth was an “amateur” move. Your basic health, even your teeth, is important for maximum performance!!

Overheard…
Overheard on the press-bus up to Holmenkollen: Norwegian reporters are being modest. Not a single one would tell us who would win today. Upon further questioning, they admitted that they hope for some Norwegian gold… but the main thing is to have a good competition. Other Norwegian spectators that we talked to were also modest and careful not to be too exuberant about medal prospects today after memories of the Lillehammer relay and Marit Bjoergen’s set-backs a few years ago.

We also learned that:
1. Oystein Petterson is better liked in Norway for his personality and down-to-earth nature than Petter Northug
2. There is some controversy about the new Holmenkollen stadium. Some Norwegians think it is great, other think it’s ugly. Some Norwegians think that it’s too expensive and suggest that maybe plowing the side-streets in Oslo would be a better use of their krone.
3. The population of Oslo has increased by 12% during the World Championships.
4. Hot dogs are served in lefse (makes them easy to hold on to). Spectators even bring hotdogs in thermos bottles of hot water for lunch (Norwegian spectators are very well-equipped.)
5. The medals ceremony was held at the University Plaza in down-town Oslo. It felt like whole town and most of the country showed up to sing “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (Yes, we love this country) with Bjoergen and friends.

And finally, Ahvo was going to have a night-cap, but it’s so expensive that he decided to stay up all night instead. Ritva’s going to get some sleep. Have a good night!