The bad news? Devon is indisposed and isn’t here for the Olympic preview podcast. As a consolation: We have a great guest in Philip Gadd, a sports reporter with the Swedish tabloid Expressen.
Philip takes us through his new podcast about Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson’s rivalry, the feast and famine of Sweden’s women’s and men’s teams, and other Olympic predictions. You can read about his dystopian experience in an isolation hotel at the last Olympics here. (Spoiler alert: He eventually got out.)
Reach us at nat[at]fasterskier.com and devon[at]fasterskier.com. We’ll be back after tomorrow’s race.
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Picking skis: that’s part of the speed equation. Italy tests skis at the 2021 World Championships. (Photo: NordicFocus)But what happens in the wax bus matters too: Sweden’s biathlon wax bus flexes. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Over the past few years, FasterSkier has reported on per-fluorinated waxes, powders, liquids, and pastes. Entities like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Europe’s equivalent, the European Environment Agency, are phasing out eight-chain fluorocarbons. We know, after diving into the scientific literature, the evidence suggests these compounds are not good for your health, and they persist in the environment as they do not readily breakdown into inert substances.
We also know that skiers love fluoros. Per-fluoros simply make skis faster, especially when the snow is near its melting point and/or dirty. If you have been reading this site for maybe a year, you are probably aware of the speed benefits per-fluors bestow, and their environmental and health costs.
As the world turns, so too do the vagaries of regulating per-fluorinated ski speed products. In November 2019, the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced a discipline-wide ban on fluoro waxes for the 2020-2021 season.
That ban was later delayed until 2021-2022. The reason for the delay, given in October 2020 just a month before the start of the cross-country World Cup, was that the apparatus for testing ski bases for fluoros was flawed.
With the end of the cross-country World Cup last weekend in Engadin, Switzerland, comes renewed debate in Europe about the proposed fluoro ban and the efficacy of testing ski bases tainted with per-fluoros. Two news outlets, NRK in Norway, and Expressen in Sweden are reporting that the ban for 2021-2022 is in jeopardy.
In the translated Expressen article, Sweden’s head of ski service, Petter Myhlback said this about a World Cup weekend in Falun, Sweden last January during which the fluoro-detector was tested in the field: “Yes, we did test measurements then – and it was quite messy. … We felt no security in those measurements. It was results that just swung up and down. Criss-cross.”
Myhlback continued, “We had skis that were completely non-fluorinated, and some that were highly fluorinated. But … some of those who were highly fluorinated got the green light – and some of the non-fluorinated on the contrary.”
In the article, Expressen quotes FIS cross-country competition director Pierre Mignerey as saying the FIS Council will need to make a decision and it is his understanding that, “there is a desire to wait until after the Olympics.” They also quote Mignerey as stating, “No. What we saw in Falun clearly showed that it is not good enough,” when asked about the efficacy of the testing device.
The NRK article quotes Norway’s head of ski service, Stein Olav Snesrud, as also noting flaws in the testing device. NRK writes that Snesrud handed over eight pairs of skis in what was a blind test in Falun.
According to the translated article, which has been lightly edited for clarity, the following combinations of Norwegian skis were tested:
A series of a total of 16 skis, eight pairs, on which fluoride powder was applied many times.
Some of these skis were also washed, they put on fluoride cleaner and later put on fluorine-free wax both two, four, and six times. They used fluorine-free spray sliders. In total, there were eight different lubrication options.
Snesrud goes on to say that he received the results from the Falun tests. “I have to say that they are far away,” said Snesrud in the translation. “Based on the tests they did in Falun, they are nowhere near having a working device.”
The NRK article indicates the results were off. “Five of the skis that came back and marked ‘no fluoride’ are skis that have only been given one layer of glider over the fluorine powder,” Snesrud said. “On two skis in the same pair, which have received the same treatment, they have found fluoride on one ski and nothing on the other. Then there are four out of 16 skis with no clear answer. There is far too much variation in those answers.”
Snesrud also claimed that some fluoro-free skis handed over for testing were dinged as positive for fluoros.
Another chapter in the saga of flouros will certainly be written soon.
Petter Northug Jr. working hard up the Alpe Cermis during the final climb of the 2011/2012 FIS Tour de Ski, where he was 24th in the 9 k pursuit on Jan. 8 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
By all accounts, Petter Northug’s 2011-2012 campaign was an unexpected failure. The high-profile Norwegian star, who usually finished at or near the top of every podium he contended for, specifically set out to do two things last winter: take the Tour de Ski and win the Vasaloppet.
He came up short on both counts; Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and Marcus Hellner of Sweden both beat him in the Tour in first and second, respectively, and a stomach bug kept him from starting the Vasaloppet. The Marcialonga in northern Italy was his only marathon showing of the year, and there he fell to 10th place behind Norway’s Aukland brothers, Jorgen and Anders, who were first and second.
Northug’s World Cup season subsequently ended prematurely in mid-February, and the 2010 Crystal Globe winner watched his overall ranking slip from second to third in his absence. But despite failing to meet his and everyone else’s expectations, Northug is still as unabashedly ambitious as he ever was.
Northug at 2012 Norwegian Nationals in late January, where he was 40th in the 15 k skate.
In a recent interview with the Swedish daily Expressen from a team training camp in Livigno, Italy, he laid out exactly how many races he’ll win: seven World Cups, the Tour de Ski and three golds at World Championships.
“The [World Cup] premiere in Gällivare [Sweden] I will win,” Northug said, according to a translation. “It’s so damn good to win on home ground.”
He took the opportunity to make another jab at Sweden: “In Sweden, of course, I win all the races. It’s most important of all,” he said.
Before last season, ski fans could generally count on Northug to be true to his word. The 26-year-old would reliably deliver unreal finishing kicks that landed him on the top of the podium again and again. But now, after a disappointing winter?
Norwegian coach Trond Nystad affirmed that Northug appears to be in good shape.
“He looks very good,” Nystad said. “Petter has had better results than ever before in the tests we’ve done this summer.”
For all his bravado, Nystad said that Northug manages every aspect of his life and training to a T.
“I usually say that he has steel control of everything he does,” he said.
And despite poking fun at his Swedish rival at every chance he gets, Northug takes Hellner and Cologna seriously.
“Take the last Tour de Ski, while I just became more worn it seemed Marcus became more alert every day. It was impressive,” he said. “Every time Marcus defeats me it hurts inside.”
In Northug’s opinion, the only two skiers to keep track of next winter apart from himself are Hellner and Cologna.
“I think it is Marcus, me and Dario Cologna who will be the strongest over the whole season,” he said.
There are 67 days to go until the season kicks off in Gällivare, and with that kind of confidence, Northug has at least ensured that all eyes will be trained on him.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2012/01/60M-Northug.jpg" "60M Northug")
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2012/02/IMG_0723-1.jpg" "Petter Northug")