Author: Fischer

With a cry of triumph and relief, Therese Johaug of Norway crossed the finish line of the final event, the 30K Freestyle. The outstanding Norwegian was putting a golden exclamation point at the end of the extremely successful Winter Games for the Fischer Race Family: 57.3% of all Nordic medals were won on Fischer skis. Take a closer look at the disciplines in which cross country skis are used, and it’s 62.3% of medal winners who relied on the total Fischer package of skis and boots, with 75.4% also using the TURNAMIC® Binding Set-Up. Fischer sent the clear message that as the most successful ski, boot, and binding brand by a huge margin, they are once again the clear number one in the Nordic market.

In total, 39 gold, 27 silver, and 32 bronze medals went to Fischer Race Family athletes. These 98 medals fell just five short of eclipsing the fabulous total medal haul in Sochi 2014, which still marks the most successful Olympic Games in company history. Just as eye-catching as successful was the use of the new Speedmax Helium skis and Speedmax boots, which caused a real buzz in Beijing (CHN) with their design in bright neon yellow and black.

In the very first event, the women’s Skiathlon distance race, Therese Johaug, Russian Natalia Nepryaeva, and Austrian Teresa Stadlober were extremely impressive in a Fischer sweep of the top three places, each wearing new equipment on her feet. Individual Olympic gold had been missing up to this point from the extensive collection of Therese Johaug. And this currently dominant cross country racer was not yet done: Therese Johaug then captured gold in the 10K and 30K, thereby announcing herself as the most successful female athlete in the Fischer Race Family in Beijing. On top of this, Natalia Nepryaeva claimed Relay gold along with Russian compatriot Yulia Stupak, plus bronze in the Team Sprint. After a surprise Relay silver medal by German skiers Katherine Sauerbrey and Katharina Hennig, the latter of the two then had an even more surprising- though certainly well earned- gold in the Team Sprint. Kerttu Niskanen of Finland had to settle for silver by a mere .4 seconds in a Classic thriller, then made up for that to some extent with an unbelievable finish line sprint to also take bronze in the final event, the 30K.

Her brother, Finnish skier Iivo Niskanen, coolly scooped up a complete array of medals to take home, with 15K gold, silver in Team Sprint with countryman Joni Mäki, and bronze in Skiathlon. Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo secured even one more gold, winning the Sprint; the Team Sprint with fellow Norwegian Erik Valnes; followed by a bronze in the 15K; then finally a bronze in the Relay with teammates Hans Christer Holund and Emil Iversen. Russian Denis Spitsov added more gold in the Relay and silver in Skiathlon, while countryman Ivan Yakimushkin took silver in the 50K event (shortened to 30K). In the Relay, Russians Veronika Stepanova, Alexey Chervotkin, and Sergey Ustiugov contributed gold, while Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson contributed bronze, playing significant roles in the extremely successful showing of the Fischer Race Family.

The most industrious of all the Fischer medalists in Beijing was Norwegian biathlete Johannes Thingnes Bø. He set the standard there as a four-time Olympic champion in Sprint, Mass Start, Mixed Relay, and Relay, plus bronze medal winner in the Individual. Right behind him was Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet, who also took home five medals as the Olympic champion in the Individual and Pursuit, as well as runner-up in Sprint, Mixed Relay, and Relay. Norway’s Tarjei Bø enjoyed earning his first individual Olympic medals with a bronze in Sprint and silver in Pursuit, to go with his golds in Mixed Relay and Relay. Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma did his part for Fischer’s outstanding medal tally with silver in the Mass Start. The Russian team even fielded complete Fischer foursomes in the Mixed Relay, as well both Relays. Russian athletes Uliana Nigmatullina, Kristina Reztsova, Svetlana Mironova, Irina Kazakevich, Alexandr Loginov, Maxim Tsvetkov, Said Karimulla Khalili und Eduard Latypov quickly raised the Fischer medal count with silver in the women’s Relay, and bronze in both the Mixed and men’s Relay. Latypov also took a Pursuit bronze. On the women’s side, Tiril Eckhoff of Norway earned the full medal array with gold in the Mixed Relay, silver in Mass Start, and bronze in Pursuit. Denise Herrmann of Germany took gold in the Individual, and bronze in the Relay with compatriot Franziska Preuss. Sweden’s Linn Persson and Hanna Öberg were Olympic champions in the Relay, while Justine Braisaz-Bouchet of France finished up by easily taking the Beijing Olympic title in the final women’s Biathlon event.

In the Nordic Combined, black and yellow dominated the podiums as well. All the Olympic champions, as well as 16 of 18 medal winners outfitted with Fischer jumping skis, as well as cross country skis, bindings, and boots enjoyed success.

In the first competition, from the small hill, Vinzenz Geiger of Germany turned up power over the final kilometers to take the win over Joergen Graabak of Norway. The experienced Norwegian then took gold on the large hill and led his teammates and compatriots Espen Bjornstad, Espen Andersen and Jens Luraas Oftebro to the Olympic Team competition title. Oftebro had previously taken silver on the large hill, ahead of former champion Akito Watabe of Japan. With another strong cross country performance, Vinzenz Geiger secured silver for the German team, featuring Fischer athletes Julian Schmid and Eric Frenzel, ahead of the Fischer foursome from Japan: Yoshito Watabe, Akito Watabe, Hideaki Nagai and Ryota Yamamoto.

In Ski Jumping, Ursa Bogataj of Slovenia, Katharina Althaus of Germany, and Nika Krizar of Slovenia provided a Fischer medal sweep in a brilliant performance off the hill. The two Slovenians also took gold in the turbulent Olympic debut of the Mixed Team competition. The Austrian eagles Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber, and Jan Hörl put up performances that earned gold in the Team ski jumping competition, while Germany’s Karl Geiger took bronze in the Iarge hill Individual jump, then battled for Team bronze with compatriots Constantin Schmid and Markus Eisenbichler.

You have probably seen a lot of yellow skis in the early World Cups and Ski Classics if you have been streaming races this year.  What are those skis?  They are the new family of Speedmax skis with some interesting and effective variations.

FISCHER’s NEW SPEEDMAX PROVED TO BE THE “GO TO” THIS SEASON.

The “go to” workhorse for the broadest range of conditions is still the highly vetted Speedmax with the proven 610 Mold.  This is what both the men’s and women’s overall champions at the 2022 Tour de Ski relied on for most of the events.   The Speedmax wins in any given track condition. The new yellow version has a lower and lighter tip for faster turn over and better climbing.  The ski is still available in either a Plus or Cold version with the Plus being the better choice for universal conditions.  The Speedmax still relies on Cold Base bonding with Air Core construction and High Modulus Carbon laminates to be fast and light.

The  new Speedmax 61K was sent to a few dealers and elite racers earlier this year with the traditional graphics.  It was originally meant as a Soft track specific ski and it definitely is for the general racing public.  However, Fischer’s accomplished athletes started using the 61K on tracks that were not at all soft.  With well developed technique, elite racers were able to maintain stability on firm tracks with the 61K and garner glide that is grand and heroic.

What is the 61K?  Fischer uses two primary molds for their skating skis: the 115 and the 610.  Skis with the 115 have a long wheelbase with extended contact zones that dissipate the skier’s weight.  Skis with the 610 mold have a shorter wheelbase with relatively short contact zones.  The 61K takes the 610 mold and shortens the wheelbase even more which creates rather soft tips and tails.

Who will benefit?  It is true that some stability is sacrificed by this flex pattern.  However, that makes the glide of the 61K extremely fast.  Advanced skiers who can maintain high tempo V2’s even on less than ideal tracks will love the 61K.  Do you have to be Johannes Klaebo or Natalia Nepryaeva to handle these skis?  No, but you better have well developed technique if you want to use the 61K on a rather firm track.   As mentioned above, the 61K Speedmax was originally designed as a soft track ski.  The flex pattern makes this ski very controllable and extremely fast in soft track conditions regardless of skier ability.

Next up is the all new Helium.  The lightest racing ski on the market.  Unfortunately, the Helium will only be available in very limited numbers.  The goal with the Helium was to make an ultra light ski that did not sacrifice durability, speed or stability.  The first step in achieving that goal was to create an all new core for the ski.  Fischer came up with the Bidirectional  Air Core which is essentially taking Air Core material, run it perpendicular to the core, and have it make up most of the sidewall.  This is far lighter than traditional construction and provides for a beautiful flex pattern and outstanding durability.

The second step for the Helium was creating the Helium Shield.  Fischer engineers created a unique weave of High Modulus Carbon intertwined with Fiberglass for an extremely light sheet that keeps the Speedmax strong and provides great torsional rigidity for effective stability.

Fischer will have these new skis available to test and try out at the post Birkie demo at the start area on the Sunday after the Birkie.  They look forward to your input.

First, and perhaps most exciting, the Speedmax Helium was introduced to the line. The new Speedmax Helium Skate Plus offers maximum performance at a revolutionary weight of only 950g thanks to new bidirectional Air Core, Helium Shield and World Cup Tip. Cold Base Bonding provides improved wax absorption and the liquid waxable sidewall made of base material offers optimal gliding properties through reduced friction.

The world class performance of the Speedmax Skate Boot starts with a world class fit for stability and efficient power transfer. A new lacing system and racing last secures the foot, while the light, strong sole and Zero Play Hinge guarantee precise, smooth movement to save valuable seconds. The RACE CODE seal confirms you’re wearing World Cup equipment.

The ultralight pro level Speedmax Classic Boot also got some love this past year. A lighter, more flexible 2-piece sole and excellent fit provides needed stability. Designed with lightweight lateral support and a smooth forward flex for the perfect bend of energy transfer and control.

Fischer Skis has won the medal count again for skis, boots, and bindings at both the 2021 Nordic World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany and the 2021 Biathlon World Championships in Poljuka, Slovenia. Fischer skis were worn by 71.2% of the Nordic medalists (including jumpers) while the second place brand was worn by 7.4% of those on the podium. Fischer sponsored biathletes won 59.1% of the medals.

“Seeing Fischer dominate in this way is reaffirming after a tremendous season,” says Fischer’s North American Marketing Manager, Brian Landrigan. “We’re thrilled with the success of our athletes and are grateful that they’ve put their trust into our products. We know they’re the fastest on the market.”

In addition to winning the most medals overall, Fischer athletes also led the count in Golds, Silvers, and Bronzes for skis, boots, and bindings at each event by a significant margin.