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Tag: Zhangjiakou

  • China spent millions on cross-country skiing in the leadup to Beijing. What happens now?

    China spent millions on cross-country skiing in the leadup to Beijing. What happens now?

    ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — A month ago, I met with a source close to the Chinese government in a tiny room in this mountain resort outside Beijing, which hosted the 2022 Olympic cross-country skiing events. 

    There, the source explained how a decision by international skiing officials to disqualify a Chinese cross-country skier from a race was like killing a baby.

    China does not have, exactly, a long tradition of success in winter sports like cross-country skiing. But after several years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in facilities, Scandinavian and Russian coaches, athlete development and gear, it was hoping for big results in Beijing, especially from star sprinter Wang Qiang.

    China’s Wang Qiang races to fifth in the freestyle sprint qualifier in Zhangjiakou during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Wang, in cross-country’s Olympic skate sprint last month, was poised for a top-10 finish, and maybe even a medal — definitely the only hardware that China’s cross-country ski team had a chance to win on home snow during the Games.

    But in one of the event’s preliminary head-to-head knockout rounds, Wang tangled with a Norwegian skier, Pål Golberg, who crashed. The International Ski Federation jury overseeing the race relegated Wang to 30th place, ruling that he’d obstructed Golberg, even though China vehemently disagreed.

    Hence the tamped-down outrage I was witnessing from my source, who wanted international followers of cross-country skiing to understand his country’s anger over the disqualification.

    China had just poured huge amounts of money into hosting the Olympics and building up cross-country skiing; thousands of volunteers had put their lives on hold to pull off the Games during a pandemic. The ski federation, known as FIS, couldn’t give Wang the benefit of the doubt? In a country with hundreds of millions of potential new cross-country skiers and skiing fans, where the sport was still in its infancy?

    “You don’t kill infants,” the source said.

    This is a Chinese-friendly perspective on Wang’s disqualification, and many others disagree, saying that Wang committed a clear infraction and that skiing’s rules must be enforced without regard to politics or business.

    China’s Wang Qiang races through the heats during a classic sprint in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    But the Chinese perspective on the event is one that’s worth understanding. Because doing so can help answer one of the most interesting, and important, questions in cross-country skiing right now: Will China keep up its investment in the sport?.

    “What I’m very curious about is: What next?” Vegard Ulvang, the retired Norwegian Olympic gold medalist who now chairs FIS’ cross-country committee, said in a phone interview. “Will they continue? Will they have a national team? Will they join the World Cup? To be honest, we don’t know. I have no information on what they will do.”

    The question has enormous implications for the sport of cross-country skiing, given the size of China’s potential market for skis, wax and television broadcasts. 

    But I got conflicting answers when I asked the people who would know the answer. 

    The source close to the government said Wang’s disqualification soured China’s sports minister, Gou Zhongwen, on further investment in cross-country skiing, and he said the sport’s future in the nation looks deeply uncertain. Many of the team’s Scandinavian employees have contracts that end in May, without assurances they’ll be renewed.

    “Everything is political, and the culture is completely different,” said Tor Arne Hetland, a Norwegian coach and former Olympic gold medalist who’s worked with Chinese athletes. “If the sports minister says, ‘We are not going to pursue winter sport or cross-country skiing or biathlon,’ then of course, there will not be any money for it. And the project will be completely dead.”

    But in an interview in Zhangjiakou during the Games, Zhang Bei, the Communist Party official who leads China’s cross-country ski team, struck a positive note.

    She said her country’s commitment to training athletes will continue into next year, and plans have already been announced that the team will keep sending athletes to train in Finland through the 2026 Games. Wang also proved his potential with a podium performance on the top-level World Cup circuit earlier this month in Drammen, Norway.

    One of the multiple vehicles that China’s cross-country ski team had stationed at the 2022 Olympics in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: Nat Herz)

    But Zhang would not reveal details about China’s cross-country budget. And she also suggested, logically, that the country would be scaling back its investment in skiing infrastructure from its big Olympics build-up.

    “There is a saying in China: Everything is difficult to start,” Zhang said in the interview, conducted through a translator. “After you have the bases for the infrastructure, then of course, there is an adjustment.”

    Ulvang has closely watched China’s cross-country program and, as the country’s athletes trained in Scandinavia before the Olympics, he hosted two of the nation’s top female prospects, Bayani Jialin and Dinigeer Yilamujiang, for a week at his home.

    Ulvang described China’s efforts to train ski champions as “all out.” But he’s still waiting to see if the country’s commitment will last, because, he said, developing a durable skiing culture takes time.

    “We need to see if this was motivated by the medals on the home field,” Ulvang said, “or if this was part of a long term strategy.”

     

    “Starting from zero”

    China’s huge pre-Games spending on cross-country skiing was fueled by Zhongwen’s belief that the discipline was one of the best measures of a nation’s overall prowess in winter sports, said the source close to the government.

    The country spared no expense. Among its investments was a $150 million, 1.3-kilometer indoor ski tunnel that athletes can use to train year-round; one Chinese team employee showed me a video of another contraption that resembled an enormous plate with snow on top, which spun in circles while athletes stayed in the same place by skiing in the opposite direction.

    China hired dozens of Scandinavian coaches and experts at yearly salaries that reached $120,000. The government recruited hundreds of Chinese athletes from other sports into cross-country skiing, and sent them to training centers in Norway and Finland. (Chinese officials considered Alaska as an option, where athletes could fly in helicopters to train at Alaska Pacific University’s facility on Eagle Glacier, but Zhang said securing visas proved too difficult.)

    The team spent millions more on wax and equipment. In Zhangjiakou, the Chinese team had access to the Games’ only on-site ski waxing bus, which has sliding doors and facial recognition technology.

    The Chinese ski team’s main wax bus at the 2022 Olympics in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: Nat Herz)

    “They have started from zero,” said Hetland. The skiing infrastructure that the country has built up, he added, “is more than what Norway has done in the last few years.”

    In the years before the Olympics, the team’s athletes recorded impressive results, even though some had only been skiing a few years — unlike many European athletes who have raced for the majority of their lives. 

    Yilamujiang and Bayani both cracked the top 30 on the World Cup circuit, and notched top-15 results at the world championships for juniors and athletes under 23 years old. Wang, China’s star male skier, performed at a similar level.

    But at the Olympics, other than Wang, none of China’s cross-country skiers cracked the top 30. Some people close to the team described the event as a disappointment, given the Chinese athletes’ proven potential.

    Former employees of the Chinese team said two dynamics help explain the results. 

    One was a tendency by Chinese team leaders to disrupt the Scandinavian coaches’ training programs, by pushing athletes through brutally difficult workouts that the Chinese staff thought were needed. 

    The other was the decision by team leaders to pull China’s athletes out of the World Cup circuit during the COVID-19 pandemic — a move that kept the skiers safe but deprived them of experience against international-caliber competition on trails outside their home country. (Chinese officials did hire semi-elite Russian athletes to travel to China to give the country’s athletes more racing experience.)

    “They need to spend even more time in Scandinavia and learn from everybody in the environment that is around a skier,” said Hetland, the Norwegian coach. “And that has been maybe the biggest challenge for the team, when due to COVID they have stayed at home in China in the last two years.”

    Olympic 30 k winner Therese Johaug (NOR) greets last place finisher Dinigeer Yilamujiang of China who finished over 25 minutes behind the Norwegian (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Hetland said it’s important to remember that China has its own distinct culture from those of the European nations that have historically dominated cross-country skiing. Adapting that culture takes time, he and others said.

    “I visited China two years ago, and I was clear to the officials there that developing or training up a good skier, fighting for medals, is not a quick fix,” said Ulvang, the Norwegian FIS official. Still, he added: “It’s really special to see such fast development into some of the best racers in the world.”

    Zhang, the Chinese leader, had no complaints about her team’s Olympic results.

    “I am very much satisfied with the performance of our athletes,” she said. “I also feel very satisfied that each of our athletes is enjoying the competition, and that they are happy.”

     

    “They cut him”

    Zhang spoke with me in a busy athletes’ lounge in the bowels of Zhangjiakou’s biathlon building. 

    With the help of some of her European coaches, I’d picked her out of her white-jacketed, fur-hatted entourage at the cross-country skiing venue a few days before. She reacted with surprising openness, and agreed to an interview after I supplied her with enough details to get approval from her superiors.

    Zhang Bei is the Chinese Communist Party official in charge of the country’s cross-country ski team. (Photo: Nat Herz)

    Zhang embodies China’s recent foray into winter sports: She came to her job four years ago, with a background as an elite rower, and only recently took up cross-country skiing herself. She told me she was too shy to try it in front of her athletes because she was worried they’d laugh at her.

    In our hour-long discussion, Zhang came across more like a politician or ambassador than a coach or executive, striking a vague but upbeat tone that glossed over some of the challenges I’d heard about from former employees. 

    “We have a very good start,” she said in response to a question about her program’s future. “Most importantly, we have many young people that are interested in cross-country skiing. And we have to help them to fulfill their dream.”

    The only time Zhang acknowledged even a hint of tension or conflict was on the subject of the disqualification of Wang, China’s star athlete. She said she and other team members were upset about the decision at the Olympics, which Zhang called “wrong.”

    Technically, FIS’ race jury ruled that Wang would be “ranked as last” in the freestyle for breaking international competition rules against obstructing other skiers. 

    Slow motion replay of the event shows Wang in his neck-and-neck sprint heat edging to his right in a way that appeared to impede Golberg, the Norwegian, who was skiing alongside Wang and ultimately crashed. (The video cannot be posted here due to Olympic broadcasting rules, but FasterSkier can provide a copy by email upon request.)

    The video isn’t exactly conclusive, and the jury’s decision has its critics — including, apparently, Gou, China’s sports minister. 

    Four separate sources told me that Gou learned of the disqualification during a dinner with Johan Eliasch, the FIS president, where Gou subsequently “lost his appetite” and raised his concerns with Eliasch directly. (A FIS spokesperson said in an email that the federation “does not comment on speculation about discussions between individuals during private dinners.”)

    China ultimately appealed the jury’s decision, but the appeal was rejected, said Ulvang. The source close to the government said China also asked FIS to extend some type of goodwill gesture after the disqualification, but that request wasn’t granted either. 

    Representatives from cross-country ski equipment manufacturers were frustrated, too. Currently, the industry sells only small amounts of gear and skis in China, and only to elite athletes there — not to “normal people,” said Hans Hubinger, an official from ski giant Fischer who was working at the cross-country venue in Zhangjiakou.

    “It’s not easy for us to see if there’s a future for the Chinese market or not,” Hubinger said in an interview.

    Hans Hubinger is an official from ski company Fischer who was working at the 2022 Olympics in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: Nat Herz)

    Wang was the industry’s only hope for a Chinese cross-country skiing medal, which could have stimulated new interest, and gear sales, in the nation’s massive market. That market could also bring much-needed television viewers to cross-country skiing’s broadcasts — a major source of revenue for the sport. 

    Hubinger said he thought Wang’s disqualification was a close call where the jury could have given him the benefit of the doubt.

    “I think, ‘Oh, this is the chance now, to turn some guys into heroes’…and they cut him,” he said. “If the rules are clear, then you have to cut him. But this rule is not clear.”

    Pierre Mignerey, FIS’ cross-country skiing race director and a member of the jury that disqualified Wang, said he sees the situation completely differently. 

    In an interview in Zhangjiakou, Mignerey said it would be completely inappropriate for a race jury to weigh political factors, like the size of China’s ski market or its investment in the Games, in their decisions.

    “Sports mean that we have some rules. And that would be, in my opinion, quite shocking if the rules would not apply to everyone in the same way, regardless of if it’s the host nation,” said Mignerey, a retired French racer. “What would people say if the jury had decided something else?”

    Others placed responsibility for the disqualification on Chinese team leaders, arguing that their decision to skip international races during the pandemic left athletes like Wang without enough experience in the kind of tight-quarters competition that happened in the Olympic sprint.

    In the weeks after the Games, Wang delivered results that only underscored the opportunity he missed when he was disqualified — regardless of who bears the ultimate responsibility for that decision.

    In his first World Cup race after the Games, in Finland, Wang, 28, finished a career-best sixth place. The following week, in Norway, he landed on the podium for the first time.

    That result delivered a shot of hope to those who want to see the Chinese program continue. 

    On social media afterward, Wang made clear his intentions to continue in the sport, even if his country’s commitment to its skiing program remains something of a mystery. 

    “Today is a milestone. This is the first time a Chinese athlete stands on the podium of the World Cup series. We have won the respect of the world,” Wang said on a platform called Weibo. He added: “I will continue to pursue my dream with a humble attitude.”

    Richard Jouve (FRA) takes the win in Drammen, NOR, with a first podium for China’s Wang Qiang, who took second ahead of Lucas Chanavat (FRA) in third. (Photo: NordicFocus)
  • Bolshunov collects third gold medal while Krüger rebounds to bronze post-COVID; Patterson historic 8th place for USA

    Bolshunov collects third gold medal while Krüger rebounds to bronze post-COVID; Patterson historic 8th place for USA

    This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.

    There were a number of stories to unpack during the men’s 50-kilometer mass start free, which was changed last minute to 28 k due to extreme weather conditions in Zhangjiakou. You’ve got Alexander Bolshunov leading the charge to collect a third gold medal of the Games, continuing his streak of nine Olympic medals in nine Olympic appearances. Bolshunov was followed by his teammate Ivan Yakimushkin, with all four members of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) finishing in the top six, interrupted only by two Norwegians, Simen Hegstad Krüger and Sjur Røthe, the first of whom earned bronze in his first Olympic appearance following a COVID-19 detention in a hotel room in Seiser Alm, Italy. 

    But let’s get one key story to the front off the bat: The only American on the start list for the final men’s event of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games was Scott Patterson, and he skied to eighth place, just 26.9 seconds shy of a medal. It’s the second best result in American men’s cross country ski history, only surpassed by Bill Koch’s silver medal in 1976. That’s the best result in almost 50 years. 

    Scott Patterson tucks into the lead group, on the tails of Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) and Sjur Røthe (NOR). (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Let’s rewind.

    The news of the change in time and distance arrived just hours before the start of the race, with the following message from the organizers: “Due to strong winds and the resulting extreme conditions on course, the distance of the originally planned 50km will be shortened to 30km. The decision was taken in regards to the athletes safety, to reduce the time of exposure of athletes in extreme conditions.”

    While there were various opinions on this change, which we’ve covered separately, there’s no getting around the fact that the race distance was slashed nearly in half. Nonetheless, as the lead group moved in and out of the wind, finding shelter on the leeward side of hills and under the protection of treed sections, the four lap course skied like a long-distance event. 

    Shortened due to extreme weather, the men’s 28 k mass start freestyle is underway in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    At the end of the first lap, the top-30 were separated by less than five seconds, thinning to a 13-man pack by the end of the second lap, and a group of 10 by the end of the third, with an 11 second gap to the first chase group.  

    Perhaps the only truly noteworthy moment at this point in the race was the departure of Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who won gold in both sprint events – the individual freestyle and the classic team sprint – while also collecting a silver medal in the men’s relay and bronze in the 15 k classic. Klæbo later reported that he was struggling with a stomach illness and had spent more of the night prior to the race in the bathroom than he had been sleeping.

    “I thought I would’ve regretted it if I didn’t give it a try but now I’m standing here and it didn’t work out on the whole,” Klæbo told the media.

    He said it was “sad” pulling out of the race, but will focus on leaving the Games with his best Olympic distance results.

    “I’ll definitely bring with me what’s been positive. What makes it feel more annoying is that my shape has felt better and better and I’ve actually felt that I’ve had a good energy today too. Then the stomach started to speak up and then it got very far to make it to the finish line.”

    Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) dropped out of the 28 k mass start free after his third lap. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    The race for medals truly began in the final lap. With Bolshunov and Krüger each surging to thin the lead group, Sweden’s William Poromaa and France’s Maurice Magnificat began to fall off the back. Patterson was tucked into seventh, working with Clement Parisse (FRA) and Denis Spitsov (ROC) to maintain contact and respond to the accelerations of the front. 

    Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR) leads the men’s 28 k freestyle alongside the ROC’s Ivan Yakimushkin (bib 3). (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Over the final 5 k, Bolsunov kept the pressure on, looking relaxed as he tried to create space between himself and Krüger, who had been tucked onto his tails, matching him push for push. With them was Yakimushkin, the three skating in tandem as the finish line drew nearer. 

    At 24 k, the leaders had only a few seconds on Patterson’s chase group, but when they hit the 27.2 k checkpoint, the gap had drastically expanded. Artem Maltsev (ROC) and Røthe were still just a few seconds back, but Patterson, Parisse, and Spitsov were now over 20 seconds behind, with a 20 second cushion ahead of the next chasers.

    Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) races to his third gold medal of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games during the men’s 28 k freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)
    Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger leads the charge during the men’s 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Up the final long climb, Krüger would not yield, holding his ground immediately behind Bolshunov. Tucked low into the downhill, the three stayed together, with Bolshunov upping the tempo and power as they accelerated out of the curves and over the gentle rises that interrupted the sweeping descent. 

    As the three hit the final rise into the stadium, Bolshunov began to break away, with Yakimushkin using Krüger’s draft to slingshot into second with 500 meters to go. 

    Entering the stadium, the gold medal looked to be predetermined. With a fist pump as he made his way around the final bend into the finish lanes, Bolshunov V2ed powerfully down the home stretch, crossing the line with his hands raised in 1:11:32.7.

    Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) celebrates his win in the 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)
    Ivan Yakimushkin (ROC) takes silver in the men’s 28 k free, while Simen Hegstad Krüger finishes third for Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Holding his advantage through a final sprint to decide silver and bronze, Yakimushkin crossed the line second (+5.5) with Krüger taking third (+7.0) for Norway.

    Behind, Maltsev came to the line fourth (+10.7), followed by Røthe in fifth (+15.8). 

    Spitsov led the now-spread chase group to the line, taking sixth (+26.2) ahead of Parisse in seventh (+28.8) and Patterson eighth (+33.9).

    Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) wins his third gold medal of the 2022 Games in the men’s 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Nine Olympic medals. Three gold. Four silver. Two Bronze. Five from the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

    “Five? Really?” Bolshunov counted on his fingers as he exuberantly celebrated the golden ending to his Beijing Games appearance. “Five medals, three gold, it is something unbelievable because before the season I set the goal of two gold medals and now I have three. I’m just unbelievably happy. The emotions overfill me. This is above all praise to win these medals here. It’s very cool, and in every race that I took part in.”

    Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) receives a cozy Olympic themed gift following his win in the men’s 28 k freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Regardless of the color of the medal he earned, Krüger said his real victory was simply making it to Zhangjiakou and having the opportunity to race at the Games. Though his illness stayed mild and he stated that it did not impair him in today’s race, he had still spent 10 days in isolation in his hotel room, and remained in isolation while the opening event of the Games, the men’s 30 k skiathlon, was underway. Krüger was the defending Olympic champion in the event after taking gold in 2018. He went on to win a silver medal in the 15 k skate, and help Norway to gold in the men’s relay. 

    During the 2021 World Championships, Krüger earned two silver medals, first in the 30 k skiathlon and the next in the 15 k free, with a bronze in the 50 k skate. He was one of the top distance skiers on the World Cup heading into the 2022 Games, shouldering Norway’s medal hopes; the nation experienced collective heartbreak following the news of his positive COVID test in late January. 

    “To be able to go home with an Olympic medal, that’s a huge victory for me and an amazing feeling,” Krüger said after the race. “I’m really proud of what I have achieved today; from not thinking I would be able to ski one single competition to being able to get everything out here today.”

    The podium of the men’s 28 k freestyle: Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) took the win ahead of Ivan Yakimushkin (ROC) and Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR). (Photo: NordicFocus)

    For Patterson, eighth place meant achieving the goal, though he admitted being in the hunt for positions even closer to the podium leaves him hungry for more. 

    “I’m happy,” he told FasterSkier in the mixed zone. “I came in wanting the top 10 and got it today. It’s a little tantalizing to be in eighth and 33 seconds back from the win.” 

    He continued that the “dream” of a medal crossed his mind as he found himself inside the lead group in the final lap, but he could feel the fatigue accumulating in his body and recognized that he was finding it hard to respond to the tactical moves of the eventual medal winners. “I don’t think it was exactly realistic to fully believe it was happening today,” he said frankly. 

    Scott Patterson skis to an Olympic career best with 8th place in the 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Patterson’s result, while historic, should not come as a surprise to American cross country ski fans. He was 11th in the skiathlon at the opening of the Games, and has made his ability to come on form and earn season-best results during Championships well known over the last four years. 

    During the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, he put together breakout performances, skiing to 18th in the skiathlon, 21st in the 15 k skate, and 11th in the 50 k classic. He raced into the top-30 in each individual distance race of the 2019 World Championships, with a 23rd place finish in the 50 k free. Improving on these results in the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, Patterson was 14th in the skiathlon, 27th in the 15 k skate, and 10th in the 50 k mass start classic. 

    And, he likes going long. He said he would have preferred another 20 k today – “I wanted the grinding instead of the punches” – and might have even been able to pull off a higher result had the race been longer. 

    Back in 2016, his first World Cup appearance was in the 50 k classic at the Holmenkollen, which sits above Oslo, Norway. He was 32nd on the day in perhaps the most storied and highly revered cross country ski race on the World Cup. Patterson advanced to 28th the following year, before making a leap into the top-20 to finish 16th in 2018 and 19th in 2019.

    Scott Patterson takes a feed during the men’s 28 k free in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    From the outside, it can be hard to appreciate the dynamics of mass start racing among the best athletes in the world in the sport. Energy management, tactics, drafting, protecting equipment while the field remains dense in the first lap, which Patterson called “chaotic.”

    “You get those lead skiers fighting the wind, and a lot of the back skiers that could just draft in. And there are a few people who definitely don’t have a lot of World Cup experience making a mess out of the pack,” Patterson described.

    In his second Olympic appearance at the age of 30, with plenty of World Cup experience, Patterson skied a smart race, telling FasterSkier that he felt “strong” and “relaxed”, while looking to be “in a comfortable position and not [using] too much out of my energy.” He also reported having competitive skis that allowed him to utilize the downhills and stay in the position where he wanted to be. 

    U.S. Ski Team head coach Matt Whitcomb complemented Patterson on his race execution, telling FasterSkier emphatically that he was “so proud of him.”

    Scott Patterson races in the lead group during the men’s 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Talking through the race from his vantage point, Whitcomb pointed out that Patterson stayed calm through the congestion in the opening lap, rather than becoming flustered and wasting energy by constantly trying to move up. He also shared how Patterson was able to “wisely” keep himself on the correct side of other racers to utilize the windbreak on unsheltered sections of the course.

    “Some incredible skiers ended up on the wrong side of the break and were toast…” Whitcomb explained. “When that happened, I heard a Finnish yelling at a German skier saying, ‘Hey, take me up to them!’ People were desperate to do work together, and so [I’m] very proud of Scott and unsurprised that he was in a tactically wise position.”

    Apart from battling the elements, maintaining an optimal position within the lead group is also a skill that requires experience and maturity.

    “If you have a pack of 15 guys, of course, it’s easy to follow in a draft in 14th and 15th,” Whitcomb said. “But what you don’t realize is that there’s quite a big accordion effect, so you’re constantly pulsating on the gas pedal. What you saw [today] was Scott moving up into between fourth and seventh, for a large part of [the race], and that ends up being a much more efficient position to ride. Draft is good, but you’re also able to just kind of stay on a steady gap.”

    Scott Patterson races to the line, finishing 8th in the men’s 28 k mass start freestyle. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    For Whitcomb, Patterson’s eighth place ends the Games on a high note for the American men’s program as a whole.

    “This is, this is for sure one of the goals that our men’s program wants: to start breaking through in one of the ultimate races of the Olympics,” Whitcomb shared. “To do that today, under conditions like this, is such a huge success for our program and for Scott and for his club, APU. For all the coaches over the years, Erik Flora that’s worked with him, and the [rest of the] coaches at APU. It’s such a huge success for [Patterson’s collegiate program], the University of Vermont; Alaska Winter Stars where he started skiing; and just so many people have been a part of this incredible journey. And so happy for all of them. But mostly for Scott because he earned this sucker today. It was brutal.”

    Rémi Drolet (CAN) skis to 35th in the men’s 28 k mass start skate. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Two Canadian’s raced the 50 k today, with Olivier Léveillé leading the Canucks at the finish in 27th (+4:21.6). 30 seconds back, Rémi Drolet crossed the line in 35th (+4:54.4). 

    Racing continues tomorrow with the women’s 30 k mass start freestyle, the final cross country event of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. At this time, the distance of the women’s event remains unchanged, however, the start was moved up by 3.5 hours to account for the forecasted weather conditions.   

    Results

  • An accountant, a summer flooring salesman and an Estonian helped Diggins deliver bronze. Here’s how.

    An accountant, a summer flooring salesman and an Estonian helped Diggins deliver bronze. Here’s how.

    ZHANGJIAKOU — Patrick Moore is a cheerful accountant from Edmonton, Alberta. Tim Baucom spends his summers working sales for a Vermont plank flooring company. Oleg Ragilo runs a cosmetic shop in Estonia with his wife.

    Jessie Diggins, the American cross-country ski star, couldn’t have won her Olympic bronze without them.

    Jessie Diggins earns an Olympic bronze medal in the 1.5 k freestyle sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Moore, Baucom and Ragilo all belong to America’s nine-member ski service team here — a mix of mostly paid staff and a couple of volunteers like Moore.

    “I can’t speak highly enough of their work ethic — they’ve been out here every single day, hours and hours and hours, probably skiing like 50 k a day,” Diggins said after finishing eighth Thursday in her third race of the Games. She added, referring to her medal-winning ski: “They delivered such a clutch performance the other night.”

    The service crew is charged with the complicated, high-stakes work of choosing the right skis and wax for the snow conditions in Zhangjiakou, the mountain resort town outside Beijing where Olympic cross-country events are taking place.

    The task sometimes can make the difference between an average day and a medal. 

    But the work, which happens in drab tan buildings off a corner of the stadium, is relatively anonymous — except when things go wrong.

    “I think it’s sometimes hard for people at my regular job what I look like here,” said Moore, the accountant. “And it’s probably hard for people at this job to understand what I look like there.”

    The U.S. wax staff arrives in Zhangjiakou. From left to right, Patrick Moore, Andrew Morehouse, Bjorn Heimdal, Tim Baucom, Chris Hecker, Jason Cork, and Eli Brown. (Photo courtesy fellow technician, Karel Kruuser)

    The U.S. service team is composed of a mix of Americans and Europeans — including Ragilo, who previously waxed for superstars in Estonia and is something of a legend there.

    To appreciate the crew’s work requires a quick lesson in ski technology.

    Cross-country ski bases — the part that slides across the snow — are generally made of a plastic called polyethylene, or p-tex. The material has tiny pores, somewhat like a sponge, which means it absorbs wax that’s ironed or rubbed in by technicians; the excess can be scraped off to leave what appears to be a smooth plastic surface.

    Manufacturers produce different waxes to help the skis slide faster in different conditions: warmer or colder, natural snow or man-made.

    The waxes are typically layered, and they can be applied in different ways — ironed in, rubbed in with a cork or even a spinning wool cylinder attached to a drill, for example.

    Technicians can also enhance the gliding potential of skis with metal tools that press tiny, intricate patterns into the bases, known as structure. Then there are the skis themselves, which are built stiffer or softer to suit snow conditions. American athletes each brought dozens of pairs to the Olympics — perhaps 300 total.

    Sorting through each of those variables and identifying the best skis, waxes and structures takes hours and hours of testing. U.S. service team members arrived in Zhangjiakou a week before the first race, and got to work.

    “None of us are scientists,” said Baucom. “But we just tinker around with all this stuff.”

    Old entries in a U.S. wax technician’s notebook keep track of the many iterations tested en route to a winning selection. (Photo: Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    The crew spends its first day or two skiing the race courses, setting up gear and getting a feel for the place. Then, they start testing the first layers of waxes and the best methods for applying them, as well as durability: How far can they ski before the wax starts losing potency?

    Most of the testing is done by feel, with two technicians gliding down a hill, side by side, on two pairs of skis with different waxes to see which pair is faster. The American technicians can ski 30 kilometers a day or more; some or the Scandinavian teams with larger staffs have workers whose sole job is testing and can ski twice that far.

    When race day arrives, the U.S. team may have tested 50 or 60 types of glide wax, and a similar number of kick waxes, which skiers use to grip the snow and push themselves uphill. 

    Olympic team staff test skis and wax Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    They’ll narrow that number to perhaps 16 waxes to test in the hours before the gun goes off. Athletes, who are paired with the technicians, will also test a handful of pairs of skis before a race to see which are fastest.

    The Americans aren’t typically expecting to find a magic bullet that makes their skis the best in the field, said Baucom, the U.S. team’s head of glide waxing in Zhangjiakou.

    “You always want to have skis that are ridiculous, and make you look good,” he said. “But really, our goal is to have competitive skis. And it seems like in these conditions, as far as I can tell, almost every team has had pretty competitive skis.”

    Rosie Brennan tests skis with her tech, Bjørn Heimdal, before the opening 15 k skiathlon. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    The conditions in Zhangjiakou were the subject of intense speculation before the Games. 

    The area is not far from the Gobi desert and gets minimal precipitation, so skiers are racing mostly on manmade snow. Before the Games, Baucom heard about storms that deposited sand on the trails that ruined skis. 

    But so far, he said, the skiing at the Olympics has been quite good, even if the snow is a little dirty and wears away wax a bit more quickly than usual.

    “It’s not throwing us for a loop as far as being very different from other really cold, dry snow that we’ve raced on,” Baucom said. “It’s abrasive, but it’s not, like, crazy.”

    Ski preparation at the elite level can be something of an arms race: On the European World Cup cup circuit, bigger teams, including the U.S., travel with huge trucks that have been outfitted as roving wax rooms at a cost of $500,000 or more. Those trucks, however, did not make the trip to Zhangjiakou.

    Scandinavian teams spend more money on ski service and have bigger workforces, which can sometimes produce inequities. At the World Championships in Germany last year, the U.S. technicians had an especially tough day in the women’s pursuit race, where the skis they gave athletes were too slow to be competitive. Baucom described the feeling as “gut-wrenching” for the staff.

    Julia Kern prepares for the 15k skiathlon with her wax technician, Eli Brown. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    When things go wrong, the U.S. team will often collect skis after the race and retest, to see what went wrong.

    At the Olympics, though, conditions have been stable and relatively straightforward for waxing, even after a flurry of fresh snow Saturday morning. So far, the American athletes have had few complaints.

    “It feels good to know that everyone has a pretty fair shot,” Diggins said. “I’m just so grateful to our staff, because we win as a team.”

  • The Chinese Ski Team’s Path to Beijing (Part 1)

    The Chinese Ski Team’s Path to Beijing (Part 1)

    China’s Degen Chen races the men’s 30-kilometer skiathlon which opened the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Salmon for Skiing

    Over the last four years China has undertaken perhaps the grandest experiment in cross country skiing history: can hundreds of athletes cherry picked from other sports and given seemingly unlimited resources be turned into Olympic medalists in nordic events? 

    Chinese athletes have never medaled in any of the nordic disciplines, and their teams head into the Olympics as the darkest of dark horses. Success, in the form of medals, is key to their aims of climbing up the medal table and becoming the protagonists of their own winter Games. 

    The Chinese nordic programs have aimed to rapidly become competitive with the best in the world. The urgency of the task was made clear at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics where China finished fourteenth in the medal count, capturing a single gold medal, and just nine in total. 

    Despite this history, not everyone is dismissive of their chances. 

    “I said four years ago that I predict these guys will medal in Beijing,” said US biathlete Clare Egan in a call, “because I know that medals are important to China and that they basically will put any resources possible into making things happen like that. So nothing would surprise me.”

    Even so, Egan conceded that, “It’s going to be hard for them, because they aren’t fast enough.”

    The project of building a culture of skiing in China began in 2015 when Beijing was awarded the 2022 Winter Games. The government spurred into action: it would make 120 million of its citizens into recreational skiers by building 800 new ski areas, among them the world’s largest indoor center in Harbin that cost $4.5 billion.

    Cross country skiing also benefited from the investment rush, with an 1.3 k indoor ski tunnel built in Beishan, a joint Finnish-China project that cost $148 million. Another cross country ski tunnel is planned to be placed inside an unused coal mine shaft on the outskirts of Beijing. Liu Bo, a former ski coach, told Reuters in 2018 that he was investing $318 million in the project. 

    Bo explained in the interview that the goal for Chinese skiing, aimed at the Olympics, was clear: “China spends big money setting up the stage, and the performers are all foreigners,” said Bo. “President Xi will not allow this to happen. We have to be the leading actor in 2022.”

    Xin Li (CHN) races a freestyle sprint qualifier in Konnerud, NOR in March, 2020. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    While the ski resort boom was mainly aimed at creating a ski culture in China, taking on a starring role in Beijing meant that expertise would be needed from abroad. For guidance, officials looked to the top of the medal table: Norway.

    Initially, it was impossible for China to work with Norway. When the Olympics were awarded to Beijing in 2015 the two countries were still embroiled in a diplomatic crisis that had severed official contact between the nations and frozen trade negotiations. The rupture occurred in 2010 when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in Oslo to Li Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights activist who was then imprisoned in China. At the Nobel ceremony, Xiaobo was evocatively symbolized by an empty chair on the stage. 

    In response, China all but severed diplomatic ties with Norway, despite the government’s lack of control over the Nobel committee. Two months later China halted the importation of fresh Norwegian salmon – a significant industry – over what was generally regarded as a politically motivated concern over a fish-borne virus. 

    The ban, as well as other restrictions, are believed to have cost Norway between $780 million to $1.3 billion between 2010 and 2017. At the time of the contentious Nobel ceremony, Norway had enjoyed a virtual monopoly over the Chinese salmon market, and the country’s fisheries had to watch as Chinese demand for salmon increased by thirty percent, while their share plummeted by two thirds. 

    Years of cautious steps by the Norwegian government followed, including its first ever refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama during his 2014 visit to Norway. Norway’s socialist left party leader Audun Lysbakken criticized this move in The Guardian, saying, “We can’t be dictated to by China in the sense of exchanging human rights for salmon.”

    That fall, Oslo – the favorite for the 2022 Games – dropped out, paving the way for Beijing to win the bid the following summer. With the Games in hand, the calculus changed, and the rift with Norway became an awkward obstacle to their objectives. 

    A subtle indication of rapprochement came in an unusual way: Gerhard Heiberg, a Norwegian businessman headed the IOC’s Marketing Commission, and was offered a meeting on a 2016 trip to Beijing with the Chinese Minister of Sport, Gou Zhongwen. 

    The minister marveled at Norway’s success in skiing, Heiberg recounted to NRK, “He said that those at the top in China had agreed that they would like an agreement with Norway on a sports collaboration. And from the Chinese side, there was a desire to use Norwegian leaders, coaches, universities and so on who worked with winter sports.”

    Heiberg recognized the moment. “I saw that here we have a fantastic opportunity to approach China.” Not wanting to waste the favorable winds, Heiberg left the meeting and “went straight to [Ambassador] Svein Sæther. And he lit positively on all the plugs.”

    With some quiet maneuvering, relations thawed, and Norway and China signed a bilateral agreement to resume diplomatic relations in December 2016. The agreement conceded that Norway would not challenge China on its “core interests and major concerns”​​ — a diplomatic term for avoiding involvement in sensitive issues, including human rights. 

    Dinigeer Yilamujiang (CHN) races a 10 k freestyle in Falun, Sweden in January, 2021. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    That winter the Norwegian Ski Association was asked to help look for coaches to work in China and offered salaries of 1.1 million kroner (equivalent to $120,000) per year. China also wanted to send its athletes to Norway, but to do so, it would need to put to rest their feud. 

    In April 2017, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg visited Beijing, officially ending the freeze. Solberg reestablished the relationship in part by signing an agreement with China to support their sporting endeavors, particularly in nordic sports, through to the Beijing Olympics. The agreement would provide China with Norwegian ski coaches, training opportunities, as well as sporting development and snow making expertise. In return, Norway received the opportunity to optimize “Norwegian preparations for the Olympics.”

    This deft piece of ski diplomacy helped to seal a seafood trade agreement with China the following month that planned to see Norway export $1.4 billion worth of salmon alone to China by 2025. The long awaited reentry to the Chinese market had arrived, and if there were any lingering questions about human rights, Per Sandberg, Norway’s Minister of Fisheries wasn’t having it. He told Aftenposten that “Norway addresses human rights in very many contexts… this time it’s fish.”

    Ski diplomacy started with Stolberg’s agreement with China, and was reaffirmed the following year when King Harald visited China, signifying the complete normalization of relations while taking in a rollerskiing race at Beijing’s Olympic Park. 

    Despite the apparent connection between the sporting pact and the trade deals, the Norwegian Prime Minister denied the two items were related. In any case, the agreement caught the Norwegian Sports Confederation by surprise. Oddvar Jenssen, the former VP of the organization, said in an interview with Aftenposten that the decision “…came terribly fast, and a lot was in place before we knew anything. When the agreement came up, we had no choice.”

    Misgivings aside, for Norwegian ski coaches, wax techs, and sport scientists, the Chinese agreement would turn into a major employment opportunity, with around 40 coaches and techs working for Chinese training groups, and around 60 more occasionally hired for short stints. No longer were the job opportunities going to be contingent on moving to China, the athletes would now be coming to Norway.  

     

    Arrival in Norway

    The sporting agreement between Norway and China took on new force after China’s dismal performance in the 2018 Olympics. Afterward, the Chinese Ministry of Sport went looking for coaching help abroad. Many nations vied for contracts, but Norway was the first stop for Gou Zhongwen.

    In May of 2018, Zhongwen met with Johannes Klæbo on his tour of Trøndelag – the region that has won more Olympic medals than any other – and solidified the agreement to bring athletes to Norway. 

    In July, ten of China’s core World Cup athletes arrived in Trondheim, Norway to begin training for the World Cup with former Montana State University skier Bernhard Rønning. 

    It was the prelude to an influx of more than 200 young Chinese athletes to Norway in the late summer and fall of 2018. 

    In addition to the Trondheim group, another was set up in Meråker, under the leadership of former Canadian National Team Coach Tor-Arne Hetland. In Lillehammer a group was led by Kristen Størmer Steira (wife of FasterSkier podcaster Devon Kershaw) and finally one in Trysil led by the mother/daughter combo of Anita Moen and Karoline Moen Guidon. 

    Anita Moen’s experience illustrates the slapdash nature of the project. In mid July of 2018 she was on vacationing on a beach when her phone rang. It was an offer to coach Chinese skiers until the 2022 Games. 

    “It was only two weeks until they were to arrive,” Moen told NRK “… I did not quite know who was coming, but I was told they had never skied before, never seen snow.”

    Jincai Shang (CHN) races a classic sprint qualifier in Trondheim, NOR during Ski Tour 2020. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    While China mobilized to send loads of athletes to Norway, their plans didn’t stop there. After Minister Zhongwen left Norway, he flew with his entourage directly to Finland. Waiting for him at the airport was Veiko Hallonen, the CEO of the Vuokatti Sports College. 

    Vuokatti offered excellent training opportunities: a long winter, a ski tunnel, knowledgeable coaches, and sophisticated technology that impressed the officials. Perhaps Zhongwen was also mindful of the warmer diplomatic climes in Finland. Ni Huizong, the Director of the Winter Sports Administrative Center told Yle, “Relations between Finland and China have a long and warm history.”

    Chinese athletes had been training in Vuokatti since 2016, but the agreement established a permanent Chinese presence at the Vuokatti center and increased the total number of athletes that would stay in Finland. 

    The head cross country coach in Vuokatti at that time was Glenn Lindholm, who met with the Chinese delegation and was asked directly whether four years were enough to turn novices into Olympic champions. Lindholm’s response was neither yes nor no. 

    Lindholm must have understood the unlikely prospect of delivering medals by the next Olympics. Still, the project may have seemed crazy enough to work. Vuokatti was about to get more than 130 hand picked Chinese athletes, an almost unlimited pot of money to work with, and just under four years to produce a medalist. 

    It was audacious, and too bold to resist. As Lindholm and others would learn, realism, a pandemic, and decisions made in the halls of power of Beijing would frustrate their plans. 

    To be continued in Part 2.

  • (Press Release) Cendrine Browne Battles to 20th in Epic Olympic Skiathlon

    (Press Release) Cendrine Browne Battles to 20th in Epic Olympic Skiathlon

    Three Canadian women ski into elite group of 30 on grueling race day in Beijing

    By Chris Dornan on behalf of Nordiq Canada

    Katharine Stewart-Jones (bib 23) skis to 23rd in the women’s 15k skiathlon, which opened the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    BEIJING, Chn — Cendrine Browne and her teammates set the tone for the Canada’s cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Games after putting down her best-ever Olympic performance, skiing to 20th place in the women’s 15-kilometre skiathlon race on Saturday in Beijing, China.

    Competing in her second Olympic Games, the 28-year-old from Prévost, Que. clocked a time of 47:58.1 after a gutsy effort that challenged the top women’s cross-country skiers who were faced with long punishing climbs and blustery winds on a frigid afternoon at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country skiing Centre.

    “That is a career-best result today! I’m really, really happy and proud of how I raced,” said Browne. “I worked very hard on my classic the last year and I think that really helped me today. It was definitely a tough race with tough conditions so I’m glad I was able to ski relaxed and be conservative with my energy. It was really fun being in the same pack as Katherine! I’m so proud of our team. This shows that we are in great shape!”

    Canada’s Browne, Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.) and Dahria Beatty (Whitehorse) worked together in the chase pack for much of the race. Browne and Stewart-Jones exchanged positions as the top Canuck in each of the four laps. Skiing strong, the Canadian trio conserved their energy for a strong finish in the top-30.

    Dahria Beatty races the 15k skiathlon in Zhangjiakou, the opening event of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Skiing in and out of the top-20 on the wide-open course, Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.) finished 23rd at 48:17.3 in her Olympic debut.

    “This is my first Olympic Games, so it was a really great experience. There was a lot of wind today, so it was important to stay in the tracks and conserve energy,” said Stewart-Jones. “It was a long 15 kms given how tough a course this is. I was happy with the way I felt out there despite it being so long since I had raced, and I didn’t really know what to expect. This will do a lot for my confidence for the rest of these Games.”

    Beatty also had a boost of confidence with her career best Olympic result, skiing steady in the middle of the pack en route to a 28th place finish at 48:52.0.

    “You had to be pretty strategic on the downhills today. With the wind, my goal was to be as small as possible on the downhills and then give everything I had on the climbs. I’m super happy with how it went for me. Being in the top-30 in a distance race is always something I’m happy with,” said Beatty.

    Olivia Bouffard Nesbitt (Morin Heights, Que.) scrapped her way to 44th in a time of 50:11.7.

    “It was super challenging conditions for everyone. It was windy, cold, the snow was slow, and this is a heck of a course,” said Bouffard Nesbitt. “It is one of the hardest courses if not the hardest. It was just epic today – my first Olympic race – getting blasted by the wind right off the start. You really could just feel the size of the event right away.”

    Battling for the first Nordic skiing medal of the Games, the field of 63 women set an electric pace from the start gun and held it throughout the challenging 15-kilometre test which combined 7.5 kilometres of classic cross-country skiing followed by 7.5 additional kilometres in the free technique. Athletes change equipment in a pit stop area between the two legs with the clock still running.

    Cendrine Browne (right) hugs teammate Katharine Stewart-Jones (left) after the pair finished 20th and 23rd, respectively, in the 15k Olympic skiathlon. (Photo: Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    Norway’s Therese Johaug controlled the pack in both disciplines. A force from start-to-finish, Johaug led a group of approximately 15 athletes who strung out the field on the second hill in the first lap. Charging out onto the second half of the course after leading the pack into the exchange area, the Norwegian skied with a handful of athletes until surging with less than three kilometres to go en route to winning the gold medal with a time of 44:13.7.

    Natalia Nepryaeva, who is an athlete representing the Russian Olympic Committee, was the next best finisher 30.2 seconds off the golden pace. Nepryaeva claimed the silver with a time of 44:43.9, topping Austria’s Teresa Stadlober who grabbed the bronze medal at 44:44.2.

    The Canadian men will hit the Olympic start line for a 30-kilometre skiathlon race on Sunday.

    *****

    Complete Results: https://bit.ly/3B0mbxc

    For complete details on Team Canada at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, please visit  https://olympic.ca/games/beijing-2022/

  • The Devon Kershaw Show: First Olympic episode! Breaking down the women’s skiathlon

    The Devon Kershaw Show: First Olympic episode! Breaking down the women’s skiathlon

    Kicking off the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games with a look into the women’s skiathlon. Co-host Nat Herz was on site during the race, braving the wind and cold to collect deeper insights into the scene, while Kershaw gives his hot take as a very-well-informed armchair quarterback. Note that Kershaw picked two of the top-three athletes correctly in his pre-Olympic podium picks: unsurprisingly, the favorite, Therese Johaug took gold, while Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC) earned silver instead of the bronze Kersh predicted. (Find full compiled picks and current standings for the Devon Kershaw vs. Alex Harvey Olympic podium predictions showdown here.)

    Stay tuned for regular updates and race breakdowns over the course of the Games! Thanks for listening.

    Jessie Diggins throws down an impressive performance in the skating half of the women’s 15k skiathlon, the opening event of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

     

  • Johaug Wins First Individual Olympic Gold; Diggins Leads US in Sixth

    Johaug Wins First Individual Olympic Gold; Diggins Leads US in Sixth

    Striding out of the stadium at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center (Photo: NordicFocus)

    This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.

    After a long hiatus from international racing, the top athletes found themselves on the start line once again, ready to contest the first event of the 2022 Winter Olympics. First up, a 15-kilometer skiathlon, featuring 64 starters completing four 3.75 k loops. The skiathlon, which combines both classic and skate in one race (7.5 k of each in this case), is an infrequent event on the World Cup circuit though appears on the schedule at all championships.

    Four years ago, at the Olympics in PyeongChang, it was Charlotte Kalla of Sweden who bested the field to take gold, followed by Marit Bjørgen of Norway and Krista Pärmäkoski of Finland. Notably, this year’s winner, Therese Johaug was not present, but we will return to this point later on. 

    Celebration for Therese Johaug (NOR) as she takes her first ever individual Olympic gold medal (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Watched by a few masked fans in the stands, the athletes completed final preparations before the start. Even without looking at the temperature, the cold was evident, from the blowing trees and bibs to the drifting snow across the tracks and the face-tape present on all the starters. The thermometer said -12.5°C or 9.5°F, though this reading likely didn’t factor in the windchill. With minutes to go, the athletes emerged from a set of underground stairs, bundled in parkas, to take their places on the start line. 

    At the starters command, the first cross-country ski race of the 2022 Olympics was underway, and almost immediately two skiers went down in a crash, though thankfully the damage did not impact the rest of the field. Coralie Bentz of France and Anne Kyllönen of Finland recovered quickly and rejoined the pack. With the first A-climb less than 1 k into the course, early leaders Rosie Brennan (USA) and Therese Johaug (NOR) pushed the pace, and the pack soon thinned.

    Therese Johaug (NOR) leads the charge up the first big hill, Rosie Brennan (USA) can be seen leading the left most column (Photo: NordicFocus)

    On the descents, the camera showed most athletes opting to ski on the platform, rather than the tracks, due to the drifting snow that was filling them. Skirting another fall, this time from Johanna Matintalo of Finland, the front group entered the stadium for the first round in a pack of roughly fifteen. With just over eleven minutes on the race clock, there were ten athletes within five seconds of Johaug, a slight surprise given her tendency for early breakaways. 

    Therese Johaug (NOR) battles Kerttu Niskanen (FIN)  (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Heading out for the second lap, Johaug visibly upped the pace though still had difficulty shaking her followers. Through the 5.1 k mark, the spread was now ten athletes over the span of ten seconds, led by Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) and ending with her teammate Matintalo, who had recovered from her fall. Whittled away over the duration of that lap, when they reached the second A-climb of the course before descending towards the stadium, Johaug was leading a group of just six skiers. 

    Entering the stadium for the transition to skate skis, Johaug double-poled the final rise, managing to open a slight gap to Niskanen, Frida Karlsson (SWE) and Pärmäkoski (FIN). Executing a quick exchange she held the lead and was out with 23:04.7 elapsed on the clock. Niskanen followed +1.0 behind, Pärmäkoski +2.2 and Karlsson +4.3.

    It is worth noting that after the exchanges, Jessie Diggins of the USA was in tenth, +57.5 seconds behind Johaug, having dropped significantly over the first two classic loops. Rosie Brennan was next in 14th (+1:11.9), with Hailey Swirbul in 23rd (+1:52.6) as the final American inside the Top-30. Julia Kern was +4:07.1 behind in 53rd, about to hit the gas on the skate laps. 

    Jessie Diggins (USA) strides up one of the many challenging climbs (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Capitalizing on her one-second advantage, Johaug found herself off the front for the first time. Pärmäkoski, Karlsson and Niskanen shared leads in an attempt to chase her down but by 8.8 k the gap had stretched to +15.8, effectively securing Johaug her first ever individual Olympic gold medal. From that point, the margins only grew: +26 at 10 k, +44 at 12.6 k and +30.2 at the completion of 15 k.

    Despite her utter dominance of World Cup races and World Championships the past few seasons, Johaug’s results sheet at the Olympics is not what you might expect.

    Tears were shed by Therese Johaug (NOR) as she finally gets her long deserved gold medal (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Prior to the day’s skiathlon victory, she had only one other gold medal, coming from the team relay in the 2010 Games in Vancouver Canada. She was a runner-up in Sochi 2014 during the 30 k freestyle mass start when she placed second behind teammate, Marit Bjørgen, and she also earned bronze in the 10 k classic in Sochi. Johaug received an 18-month competition ban in 2017 for a positive doping test which prevented her from attending the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.

    In her post-race press conference, Johaug said she does not hold onto anger about her suspension, which left her even more motivated to prove herself this year.

    “I’m finished with these years and I’m focusing on myself, and the future and things I can do something with,” Johaug said in a press conference. “It means maybe more for me today when I’m didn’t have this gold medal, and maybe if I had the gold medal before, this Olympics, maybe I would not been here.”

    Therese Johaug (NOR) on top in the first cross-country competition at the 2022 Olympics (Photo: NordicFocus)

    With the recent outbreak of COVID amongst the Norwegian team, Johaug’s path to Beijing has not been as smooth as she would have liked. She only arrived at the venue on Wednesday, leaving just a few days to adjust to the time change and climate before the first event. In spite of these challenges, she proved equal to the task, skiing away with the victory in a time of 44:13.7. 

    Behind Johaug, the race for silver and bronze was playing out in a dramatic way. Initially, Karlsson of Sweden seemed to have pulled away, when at 10 k she was 26 seconds behind Johaug, and 10 seconds ahead of Niskanen (FIN) and Teresa Stadlober of Austria. However, this break was short-lived, and at 11.3 k, Karlsson was less than a second ahead of Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC) who had worked with Stadlober to rejoin the chase pack. Pärmäkoski (FIN) began to drop off the pace and the group was down to four. At this point, Diggins (USA) could be spotted closing in on Pärmäkoski, who continued to fade. 

    The chase pack, pictured here: Kerttu Niskanen (FIN), Teresa Stadlober (AUT), Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC), (l-r) (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Entering the final A-climb of the race, Stadlober (AUT) injected some pace, attempting to pull away but Karlsson of Sweden and Nepryaeva (ROC) hung on. Only Niskanen (FIN) dropped slightly.

    Thus it was three skiers vying for two medal spots. But as they descended towards the stadium Niskanen closed in again, making the group four. Nepryaeva crested the final rise in front as across the stadium the camera showed Johaug crossing the line, arms raised and a frozen smile on her face. 

    Frozen but happy, Therese Johaug (NOR) (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Down the finishing straight Nepryaeva held onto her lead as Stadlober mounted a final challenge, ultimately running out of space as the two finished in silver and bronze position respectively. Niskanen (FIN) finished fourth (+36.1), Karlsson (SWE) in fifth (+42.5), and in an impressive comeback, Diggins crossed the line sixth (+50.5). 

    A tight battle for silver and bronze between Teresa Stadlober (AUT) and Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC), (l-r) (Photo: NordicFocus)

    This silver is the first Olympic medal for Natalia Nepryaeva, who most recently became the first Russian women to win the Tour de Ski. Her only other Olympic appearances came in PyeongChang where her best finish was fourth in the classic sprint. 

    Teresa Stadlober (r-AUT) celebrates a bronze medal as Natalia Nepryaeva (l-ROC) is overcome with emotion (Photo: NordicFocus)

    For Teresa Stadlober of Austria, this bronze medal could be viewed as redemption. Stadlober was in medal contention during the 30 k classic at PyeongChang when a last minute wrong turn took her out of the running. Furthermore, after a total of 18 individual starts at championship events (Olympics and World Championships), this is Stadlober’s first medal. She holds just three World Cup podiums, two during the 2018 edition of the Tour de Ski in Toblach where she placed third in the 10 k classic mass start and had the second fastest time of the day on the Alpe Cermis hill climb. The third podium was in a 15 k skiathlon in Oberstdorf Germany in 2020 where she also placed third. 

    First Olympic medal for Teresa Stadlober (AUT) (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Other noteworthy performances from the day includes Anastasia Rygalina (ROC), who has had just ten World Cup starts in her career and never finished in the top ten, finishing the race in 8th. Behind her, Delphine Claudel of France earned a new personal best for the Olympics placing 9th. 

    Jessie Diggins (USA) exits the transition zone, followed by Ebba Andersson (SWE) (Photo: NordicFocus)

    After being +55.5 seconds behind Pärmäkoski and the chase group at the exchange, Diggins ended up finishing a full eight seconds ahead of the Finn and was just 20 seconds behind bronze medalist, Stadlober.

    “I definitely finished with nothing left so I feel really good about that,” said Diggins in the mixed zone after the race. “I was so proud of never giving up. I feel really good about the pacing and where my fitness is. I definitely want to figure out some things with my power striding, but overall I think this was a really encouraging start to the Games and honestly it feels really good just to have gotten here and to be able to race.”

    Left it all on the course, Jessie Diggins (USA) collapsed in the finish (Photo: NordicFocus)

    When asked about the cold and windy conditions Diggins replied, “My hands got pretty cold because I needed thinner gloves for the pit-box changing. My muscles stayed warm though. [The wind] is really something, and that’s what makes it so cold, so I think it’s important to really push that and stay warm.”

    Regarding the course, Diggins said, “They’re really good courses. I really like them. I think they’re really fair and great championship courses. They’re as hard as they look, you’ve really got to work for it.”

    Jessie Diggins fields media questions in the mixed zone. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    In Diggins final 5k, she advanced from eighth place and over 1:13 back to finish sixth place and roughly 50 seconds back. This is a difference of 23 seconds gained on the leader over 5k, with ten seconds gained in the final 2.4k.

    “I had amazing skate skis and I think I had paced just well enough to be able to do that,” Diggins said of this progress. “I crossed the finish line with nothing left. It’s really cool to get a race on these courses in and I think I’m figuring [them] out.”

    Rosie Brennan leaves the exchange zone halfway through the women’s 15k skiathlon, the opening race of the 2022 Winter Olympics. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    Brennan was the next finisher for Team USA, in fourteenth position (+2:51.7). Brennan had initially fallen behind Germany’s Katharina Hennig in the skate leg to slide into 15th, but she regained her position with 3 k to go, further accelerating to give herself a 7 second cushion at the finish. 

    “Definitely a little bit of everything out there today,” Brennan told U.S. Ski & Snowboard communications manager Tom Horrocks after the race. “Some good, some ugly, some in between.”

    While Brennan’s result might not be evidence that she is a medal threat in the event, and she is surely left wanting more, she spoke like a true veteran, showing maturity and perspective in her response to how she will look back on the performance.

    “I think I have to take the like big picture perspective. Four years ago, I think I was close to dead last fighting some [mononucleosis], and that was my first and last Olympic race. So I really had kind of a — I don’t know what you’d call it — a demon in the back of my mind that I needed to get rid of. So to be in a better place today, even if it wasn’t my best, was a step in the right direction. And that’s something that I’m proud of.”

    Rosie Brennan catches her breath after finishing 14th in the women’s skiathlon at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    While official start lists are not yet available, as Brennan is one of USA’s top skiers, she will likely start in multiple upcoming events.

    On her mindset and how she’s feeling heading into these stages, Brennan said, “It’s been a while since I’ve done racing at an international level. (Brennan left Europe after the Davos World Cup races in mid-December, spending the last six weeks near her home in Park City, UT.) I’m really hoping that the effort today was what I needed to just get back into things and find a better place ,because I certainly have had some workouts that have indicated that I’m in good shape. So I do want more and I think I can get more. I’m really looking forward to the other races.”

    Behind Brennan, Hailey Swirbul finished in 40th (+5:28.8).

    “It’s a lot of V1 skate, it’s hard,” Swirbul said in the mixed zone in reference to the course, “It makes for fair racing but you have to be totally on your game. It didn’t feel like [you get a break] today, it was a tough day for sure.”

    Hailey Swirbul transitions from classic to skate, fighting windy conditions on course during the women’s 15k skiathlon. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    When asked about taking part in the Olympics and the momentum of the team, Swirbul said, “It’s a hugely exciting time to be part of this team. We’ve shown over the last four years what we’re capable of. We will give everything we have out there. It feels like a relief that we made it here and that our team has been healthy and we prepared really well so far. A race is a race, no matter if it’s an Olympic or local race. It’s important to keep your head in the game, and be ready to fight no matter what.” 

    Hailey Swirbul (USA) embraces teammate Julia Kern (USA) after the skiathlon (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Julia Kern rounded out the US finishers in 53rd position (+7:51.8). It was “windy and tough,” said Kern definitively. “That was a really tough race, probably the windiest race I’ve ever done. I had a ton of base layers on so I stayed warm, but the wind cools you right down on the downhill.”

    Regarding her participation in the Games, Kern said, “It’s a dream come true, I’m really excited to see what we can do as a team for the rest of the Games. This is just the beginning.”

    Julia Kern (USA) fights hard to the finish (Photo: NordicFocus)

    The Canadian women made a strong showing in the top thirty, led by Cendrine Browne in 20th (+3:44.4). Not far behind her was Kathrine Stewart-Jones, matching her bib number and finishing in 23rd (+4:03.6). In a dramatic finish – essentially a forward fall across the line – Dahria Beatty finished 28th (+4:38.8), putting three Canadians in the top thirty. Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt was the fourth Canadian and finished 44th (+5:58). 

    Dahria Beatty (CAN) finished 28th in the 15 k skiathlon (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Racing for Australia, APU’s Jessica Yeaton finished just outside the Top-30 in 31st (+4:40.3).

    Australia’s Jessica Yeaton (bib 53) races to 31st in the women’s 15k skiathlon, which opened the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    The men will race a 30 k skiathlon tomorrow, and the next women’s event will be the freestyle sprint on February 8th. You can find a detailed schedule for the Olympic cross-country events, including how to watch, here. 

    Results

  • Olympics Preview: About That Final Uphill

    Olympics Preview: About That Final Uphill

    Zhangjiakou 5 k course. The final uphill is the topmost orange course segment on this map. (Screenshot from FIS homologation certificate)

    Take a moment to visualize some iconic head-to-head finishes from recent global championships: Klæbo vs. Bolshunov in the 50 k, Oberstdorf, 2021; Nilsson vs. Johaug in the relay, Seefeld, 2019; Schumacher vs. Terentev in the relay, Lahti, 2019; Diggins vs. history in, well, you know, PyeongChang, 2018.

    What do these races have in common, besides drama, high-level skiing, and triumph and tragedy in equal measure? All of them feature a final downhill back into the stadium.

    Photo: screenshot from homologation certificate. Each box is 250 meters long, on the horizontal axis, and 10 meters tall, on the vertical axis.

    The Zhangjiakou courses that will be used for all distance races, by contrast, starting tonight with the women’s skiathlon, do not have such an approach to the stadium. Instead, here is a course profile of the final kilometer of all the distance courses at Kuyangshu Nordic Center and Biathlon Center in Zhangjiakou, China:

    Specifically, note that there is an uphill in this final kilometer. There is a B-Climb with a 14-meter gain, starting roughly 440 meters from the finish, then an effectively flat approach through a hairpin turn and into the finishing strait.

    While it is tough to make sweeping statements about what “most” courses “typically” do, a review of homologation certificates and course profiles suggests that Zhangjiakou will present the first global championship (that is, Olympics or World Ski Championships) with a comparable profile for the final kilometer since Sochi in 2014, and the first championship without a downhill into the stadium in at least 11 years. This conclusion is based on a somewhat unscientific survey of the final kilometer of the “main” five-kilometer course at all global championship venues since Holmenkollen in 2011. (Course profiles and methodology may be found at the bottom of this article.)

    Here’s a look back, including the final kilometer, at the 30k men’s skiathlon during the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. Spoiler alert, it was won by Simen Hegstad Krüger, who is currently quarantined after contracting COVID-19 last week, leaving him unable to travel to Beijing to defend his title.

     So does this this final uphill matter? If you’ll forgive the lawyer answer, it depends.

    On the one hand, if athletes are skiing together in the final kilometer of a race, a course with an uphill approach to the finish may play out differently than one with a downhill approach. Everything else being equal, you might expect a pure climber to have an edge on the final stretch of the Zhangjiakou courses, while this profile could negate the advantage of greater mass that a larger skier would use to gain more speed coming off a final downhill.

    On the other hand, the shortest mass-start race at these Games is the 15 k skiathlon (honorable mention: the women’s relay, which is 4 x 5 kilometers and could very well feature a final leg that is much more of a head-to-head 5 k, not to mention that the sprint/team sprint course also has this profile for its final 500 meters). So there exist roughly 14.5 kilometers in which athletes may make a move before this final uphill. More broadly, while this article chose to focus on the final kilometer of each distance course as an arbitrary cutoff for purposes of taking analogous screenshots of course profiles (that is, while clearly the entire course is relevant for how the final kilometer skis, I had to set my parameters somewhere), note that the 800 meters immediately preceding the final Zhangjiakou uphill are nearly all downhill, with a substantial drop of roughly 50 vertical meters, so heavier skiers or better descenders could gain an insurmountable advantage on the flyweight athletes before this climb.

    Here is the elevation profile for the entire 5 k course in Zhangjiakou, same scale as above. There is a pretty long downhill before that final B-Climb. (photo: screenshot from homologation certificate)

    And more broadly still, it may be misleadingly reductive to focus on only the final half-kilometer of a 15-, 30-, or 50-kilometer mass-start race, when we’re talking about the world’s best athletes here, and they will all have a plan to use preceding sections of the course to their advantage, lessening if not obviating the implications of this one final uphill.

    One commentator consulted by FasterSkier, Lex Treinen, took an “all of the above” approach when asked for his analysis of the implications of this course profile. Treinen is a former pro skier for APU who reached a national championship podium and multiple SuperTour podia during his racing career, was top American in the 2015 Birkie, and has provided commentary for both domestic and World Cup races, but now describes himself as a “substitute Polar Cubs coach [for the Anchorage Junior Nordic League youth skiing program] and amateur watercolorist.” (Treinen also has a day job as a reporter for Alaska Public Media; disclosure, he was a colleague of FasterSkier reporter Nat Herz until about a month ago.)

    Lex Treinen (APU) on his way down to the finish, where he placed sixth in the men’s 30 k freestyle mass start at 2014 U.S. nationals at Soldier Hollow. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

    “It’s gonna be a tactical finish but not a crapshoot,” Treinen wrote to FasterSkier earlier this week. “There’s something for everyone in the last kilometer – a descent to bunch the group up, a kicker of an uphill for the fitness freaks, and then a grind for the drag racers into the finish chute.

    “It’s hard to say what sort of racers it would favor,” Treinen continued. “I think there will be a lot of different ways you’ll see the last 500 meters play out, come-from-behinds, scuffles in the downhill, and grinders who wear out the field in the last stretch.”

    So, well, it depends.

    Thomas Alsgaard of Norway leads Cristian Zorzi of Italy into the final downhill into the stadium in the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at the 2002 Winter Olympics at Soldier Hollow. (Photo: Cory Smith)

    Another expert, course designer John Aalberg, acknowledges the differences between the approach to the finish in Zhangjiakou and that in Soldier Hollow, which he also designed: “I was able to design an even better finish for these 2022 courses, with both a long uphill (similar to Hermod’s Hill), an exciting downhill right above the stadium, and a small uphill coming into the stadium (the high speed coming into the Soldier Hollow stadium is not optimal),” Aalberg wrote to FasterSkier. Aalberg also described the final downhill in Zhangjiakou as featuring a “‘velodrome’ downhill corner.”

    Bottom line – and apologies for the joyful indeterminacy here – these courses have never hosted a FIS race before; no one knows for sure how they will ski under race conditions. Again, it depends. But as a spectator watching at home, you should get ready for two weeks’ worth of athletes coming off a final uphill into the stadium. And if you’ve ever raced at Birch Hill in Fairbanks (19-meter climb starting 360 meters out), Government Peak in Palmer (19-meter climb starting 270 meters out), or Craftsbury in Vermont (17-meter climb starting 730 meters out), brace yourself for some flashbacks.

    Part of the final climb leading back up to the stadium on the comp loop, seen in this file photo view from Government Peak Recreation Area, Palmer, Alaska, November 1, 2018. (photo: Gavin Kentch)
    View of the final climb leading back up to the stadium, Government Peak Recreation Area, Palmer, Alaska, November 1, 2018. (Photo: Gavin Kentch)

    Methodology and footnotes

    Immediately below are thumbnails of the final kilometer of the 5-kilometer distance course for all global championships since Holmenkollen in 2011. Below that are comparable thumbnails from all domestic championship venues (U.S. Nationals or Spring Series) from this country in the past decade that have homologation certificates currently available. All images are screenshots from the course profile contained in the official homologation certificate, which may be found here. They have been arranged in a wholly holistic manner, according to my sense of which ones would ski most like the Zhangjiakou distance course, sorted by descending order of similarity. Your sense of this may certainly differ.

    This is an unscientific endeavor that is more art than science. Indeed, note that each venue has multiple different homologated courses; a 10-kilometer race may be three laps of a 3.3 k course, for example, while a 50-kilometer race is often six laps of an 8.3 k course, neither of which uses the 5 k course at all. I chose the 5 k course distance as a common denominator that all venues in this survey have. I think it is likely that most distance courses will typically have the same final-kilometer approach to the stadium, no matter the overall distance of the course, but this is not always the case, cf. the mass start vs. interval start 5 k homologated courses at Birch Hill in Fairbanks, which follow different routes to the same finish line in the same stadium at the same venue for two courses of the same length, and so have different elevation profiles.

    I also acknowledge that the homologation certificates currently available may differ from the course used at the time of a given championship. Historical homologation certificates are not generally available on the FIS site. Again, these are presented as examples for comparison, not as gospel truth.

    As one final caveat, I am painfully aware of the risk of confirmation bias here. I train and race in Alaska… and I ranked a Fairbanks course first among domestic courses. That’s convenient. (I really think it’s a tossup between Birch Hill and Craftsbury South; I slotted the Birch Hill mass start course ahead because the final uphill there starts closer to the finish, but reasonable people may clearly differ.) I have raced at one European venue in my life… and would you look at that, Beitostølen has a 15-meter climb back to the stadium, better list it as an honorable mention course.

    Bottom line, I would be very open to being told why your home course is in fact a better analog for Zhangjiakou; there are hundreds of courses in the global homologation database, and I did not survey most of them. Please take this article as an illustrative sampling of what’s out there rather than as a comprehensive roundup, and feel free to suggest better matches in the comments. And enjoy the races.

    Therese Johaug (NOR), followed by Katharina Hennig (GER), crests the final uphill into the stadium, Ruka mini-tour, earlier this World Cup season. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Global championship courses

    Zhangjiakou (2022 OWG)

    Sochi 5 k left (2014 OWG)

    Holmenkollen (2011 WSC)

    Oberstdorf (2021 WSC)

    Seefeld (2019 WSC)

    Pyeongchang (2018 OWG)

    Val di Fiemme (2013 WSC)

    Lahti blue (2017 WSC)

    Falun blue (2015 WSC)

    Falun red (2015 WSC)

    Lahti red (2017 WSC)

    Domestic championship courses

    Zhangjiakou (2022 OWG)

    Birch Hill 5k mass start

    Craftsbury 5k south

    Birch Hill 5k interval start

    Houghton 5k B

    Kincaid JNs 5k

    Soldier Hollow Olympic 5k

    Sun Valley 5k

    Truckee 5k B

    Sun Valley 5k

    Truckee 5k A

    Honorable mention

    Zhangjiakou

    Rikert Nordic Center, Vermont (hat tip Bill McKibben)

    Ruka, Finland

    Beitostølen, Norway

    Government Peak Recreation Area, Palmer, Alaska

    Related reading:

    The Enigma of Zhangjiakou and the Kuyangshu Nordic Center (February 2022)

    Olympics Preview: What We Know About the Courses and Venue (January 2022)

  • On the Ground Report: A Beijing Olympic Winter Games Preview

    On the Ground Report: A Beijing Olympic Winter Games Preview

    A view of the stadium Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — After months of headlines about coronavirus tests, travel logistics and geopolitics, Beijing’s Olympic cross-country skiing venue, on the eve of its first competition Saturday, has emphatically changed the subject.

    To the winds of Zhangjiakou.

    Icy gusts billowed athletes’ training bibs, filled the resort town’s immaculately groomed ski tracks with dry, squeaky powder and generally consumed everyone’s attention Friday — from the team members who shielded their faces with buffs and layers of tape to the course workers who used leaf blowers in an effort to restore a section of the course to presentable shape.

    Windblown snow fills ski tracks Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
    A course crew member attempts to clear windblown snow out of the ski tracks Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    “This makes Fairbanks seem nice,” a slightly defeated sounding Luke Jager, the Alaska-born American sprint racer, said in a message after braving Zhangjiakou’s trails Friday, amid 25 mph gusts and a high of 5 degrees. “It’s kind of brutal though: All the spots on the sprint course where you want to carry speed into the climb, you just get blasted with wind and come to a halt.”

    Athletes’ early impressions of the Beijing Winter Olympics have centered on China’s intense coronavirus mitigation measures, from daily testing to volunteers wrapped in layers of personal protective equipment.

    But finally, after dodging the hyper-contagious omicron variant in the lead-up to the Games, athletes and coaches are finally able to narrow their focus on competitions — thanks in part to those protective measures.

    American cross-country skier Julia Kern trains with U.S. team staff members Eli Brown, center, and Andrew Morehouse on Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    That’s the thing about the Beijing Olympic bubble: Once you’re inside it, it’s a much more comfortable place for an elite athlete to be during a pandemic than outside.

    “I would say China’s policy on COVID matches our team policy on COVID,” said Matt Whitcomb, one of the U.S. Ski Team coaches. “Even though athletes made the team, we weren’t sure they were actually going to make it to the Olympics.”

    Positive tests sidelined other contenders ranging from Norwegian cross-country skiing stars to star U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor to Alaska-based figure skater Keegan Messing. 

    American cross-country skier Hailey Swirbul tries to stay warm during a race preparation training session Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    But the entire U.S. nordic skiing squad has made it to Zhangjiakou, in the mountains some 100 miles northwest of Beijing, unscathed so far. 

    And while athletes and coaches said they’re still being vigilant, each day without news of many positives inside the Olympic bubble lends to the sense of security.

    “Since we’ve all gotten here and settled in, we’re like, ‘All right, we made it.’ We’re still testing negative. We haven’t heard of people testing positive. So I think we’re feeling pretty good about it — and not thinking about it quite so much,” said Gus Schumacher, another Alaskan competing at the Games. “I think this is probably the COVID-safest I’ve been in a long time.”

    American cross-country skier Gus Schumacher trains Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    That’s allowed athletes to think, and talk, about other things — namely the conditions on Zhangjiakou’s courses in advance of the Olympics’ first cross-country ski races. 

    Women will race 15 kilometers Saturday afternoon in the pursuit format, with the first half in classical technique and the second half skating. Men race the same format Sunday, skiing 30 kilometers.

    Athletes spent Friday testing skis, practicing the changeover in gear — which happens while the clock is running — and fine-tuning both their bodies and cold-weather coping techniques.

    Olympic team staff test skis and wax Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
    American cross-country skier Gus Schumacher trains Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    “Trying to figure out how to keep our faces warm,” Jager said.

    Schumacher skied with patriotic red and blue patches of tape on his cheeks, plus a striped red and white neck warmer. Other athletes trained wearing masks designed to shield their lungs from the cold air. Norwegian superstar Therese Johaug at one point skied through the stadium area with her neck warmer pulled over her mouth.

    Norwegian superstar cross-country skier Therese Johaug stretched a neck warmer over her face to stay warm Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
    Therese Johaug and her technician endure wind and cold as they prepare for the upcoming skiathlon. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    “Everybody has really fine-tuned what long underwear tops they’re going to need to wear, heated socks, heated vests for training,” Whitcomb said. “What puts the cold into an extreme sort of level is just the incessant wind — and it is really bitter. There’s one or two spots on the course where you can find a little respite from the wind, and it feels like the tropics when you step into it.”

    Beyond devising ways to keep their bodies warm, athletes were also scheming with coaches about the fastest way to navigate Zhangjiakou’s wide, challenging trails, given the challenge of the windblown snow filling the tracks.

    Skiing outside the tracks appears to be faster. But doing so invites the potential for disqualification, as athletes are required to follow strict rules about cornering when using the classic technique, Whitcomb said.

    Swiss skier Nadine Faehndrich trains in a mask Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
    Russian skier Ivan Yakimushkin trains Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)

    Aside from the cold, though, athletes and coaches said they’ve had a warm welcome to China. The food is good, the logistics are uncomplicated and the Chinese volunteers have been warm.

    “They’re doing an amazing job,” Jager said. “Everyone’s super friendly, and everything is pretty seamless.”

    The coronavirus prevention measures also make sense, Schumacher said, given China’s low rates of illness and the much higher rates in countries that athletes, coaches and journalists are traveling from.

    “It honestly seems like China’s probably one of the few places that can really pull this off well, right now,” he said.

    American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins smiles during a training session Friday, February 4, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center. (Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
  • Insights From a Pre-Olympic Media Conference with Jessie Diggins

    Insights From a Pre-Olympic Media Conference with Jessie Diggins

    As January draws to a close, energy, excitement, and perhaps anxiety surrounding the rapidly approaching 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing is steadily building. In an effort to better manage her time and energy heading into these Games, Jessie Diggins offered a media conference facilitated by U.S. Ski & Snowboard cross country communications manager Tom Horrocks to answer questions about her preparation, outlook, and plans for the remainder of the time before the team heads to the athlete village in Zhangjiakou.

    Diggins began the conference with a comment on the team that has been named. Of the fourteen athletes named to the Olympic cross country team, just four have competed in past Games. Diggins is headed into her third Olympics with ten total Olympic races under her belt, while Rosie Brennan, Caitlin Patterson, and Scott Patterson competed only in the 2018 Games. In Pyeongchang, Brennan competed in just the skiathlon, while Caitlin Patterson raced in the skiathlon and 30k classic, and Scott Patterson raced in each of the three individual distance events plus the men’s relay. 

    Six of the athletes were born in the year 2000 or 2001. Overall, it’s a relatively young crop of athletes, many of whom have very limited experience racing at the international senior level compared to veteran-dense teams like Norway. 

    Diggins emphasized that the age and experience of the team should not be associated with what fans of the sport should expect to see in competition, adding that she is individually very excited to see what her teammates will do at the Games. 

    “Everyone’s working so hard,” she said. “And staying really cool in what is a stressful time – with COVID, and with variants, and with all the different paperwork and all the things that you need to do headed into any Olympics, but especially this one, given the extra hurdles with COVID… I think everyone’s doing such a remarkable job of not only handling all the extra stressors very well, but also still being excited and still seeing this as, ‘Okay, we’re gonna find ways to make this fun. Obviously, it will be different from Games in the past, and probably different from future Games too…’

    “I think we’re in a really good place, despite everything that’s happening in the world. And I think that’s kind of one of the things that the Olympics does for us is it lets us feel inspired and let go of all the stresses that we’re feeling in the moment. Or at least that’s what the Olympics I think is supposed to do.”

    Jessie Diggins embraces team sprint partner Julia Kern after the pair took second place in the freestyle team sprint in Dresden, Germany in December, 2021. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Following the Tour de Ski, the members of the team who planned to remain in Europe began a recovery training block in Seefeld, Austria, which sits at roughly 3,800’, before moving to higher elevation to begin an altitude training camp. Having come down with a head cold during the final stages of the Tour de Ski, Diggins expressed the value of this recovery block, particularly in a location where her body was not further impaired by altitude-related physiological effects. 

    “Within two days after the tour, I was symptom free. Five days later, totally healthy and able to train totally normally again. So that was really, really nice to dip down in altitude and recover and feel like I absorbed everything that the tour brought in terms of training stimulus.”

    With the cancellation of the final two World Cups before the Olympics, the team headed to Livigno, Italy earlier than originally planned, earning them extra time training at a venue that sits at a nearly identical elevation to the competition venues in Zhangjiakou. Diggins expressed that this has provided the team with a variety of excellent training options, from challenging race courses to flat valley skiing ideal for recovery, all supported by a team of staff that includes wax techs, a chef, and a physical therapist.

    Acknowledging individual variation athlete-to-athlete, Diggins explained that overall the team’s preparations have looked “normal” in terms of how they would train and peak leading into another Championship. To account for the lack of races, the team has been building in simulations, including practicing events that have not been included in the World Cup calendar yet this season.

    “Yesterday, Julia and I did a skiathlon simulation,” Diggins shared. “It was awesome. It was really hard. And I’m so glad we did it. We had coaches going nuts – taking video, cheering for us. We had bibs on, we had pits set up, we had everything to simulate it, which was really nice, because we don’t get to do very many skiathlons anymore. And it was really cool to practice that pacing at altitude. That was really helpful.”

    With an epic free skate in the final meters, Jessie Diggins wins the thrilling 10-kilometer mass start freestyle in Oberstdorf, Germany during the 2021/22 Tour de Ski. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    In previous press conferences, Diggins has emphasized the importance of frequent racing in helping her reach her mental and physical peak during the season. She had planned to race in at least the first World Cups after the Tour de Ski in Les Rousses, France before they were canceled. With this piece of her plan suddenly removed, what would she do to replace these stimuli to ensure her preparations were unaffected? 

    While Diggins shared that she loves racing in France and had been looking forward to the races in Les Rousse, she quickly found a silver lining to the cancellation. And to the many setbacks she faced in the second half of the Tour.

    “[The cancellation was] kind of a huge blessing in disguise,” she stated affirmatively. “I was able to fully absorb the Tour and then build in a full training block and move up to altitude sooner. I felt like, ‘Whoa, actually, this is kind of perfect.’ This is how I would have designed it because I got in all the racing I needed to in terms of World Cups. Mentally, I felt like the tour was kind of the icing on the cake in terms of getting mentally strong. In terms of being able to push myself – being mentally there, being positive in any situation, all of that – that was the best preparation I could have ever asked for.”

    In terms of replacing the intensity of World Cup racing, Diggins expressed her confidence both in the training sessions the team has put together, and the ability of her teammates to push themselves and each other. 

    “I feel really fortunate because my greatest strength has always been being able to push myself no matter what. And so I was like, ‘Well, this is totally fine, because even if there aren’t World Cups, that’s not a problem.’ I pushed myself in our time trials so hard that I couldn’t feel my legs and I was tasting blood. And that was in a time trial with just one other athlete.”

    In year’s past, the Americans have collaborated with athletes from other nations when paths have crossed; for example, in December 2020, the Americans raced in a set of time trials with athletes from Russia, Italy, Switzerland and Germany while all were training in Davos following a canceled World Cup event in Lillehammer, Norway. In lieu of opportunities to face off on the World Cup, these collaborations have perhaps provided a measuring stick to see how an athlete’s fitness might compare at the international level. Did the lack of this type of opportunity affect Diggins mental preparation heading into her goal races in Zhangjiakou?

    “In terms of the lack of international feel, that’s also been a blessing in disguise, because everyone’s worried about germs. When you get more and more people [together], then you’re exposing yourself to more and more people who aren’t in your bubble. I can’t speak for how other countries feel, but for me, it’s made me feel very safe from a COVID perspective to say, ‘Nope! We’re just gonna keep this as tight as we can, and run some very small time trials.”

    Jessie Diggins wins the 10k mass start freestyle in Oberstdorf, Germany during the 2021/22 Tour de Ski. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Staying in the COVID-vein, Diggins also fielded questions from Matt Futterman of the New York Times regarding her fear level and the tension among the team about getting COVID, which remains rampant. A positive result would be a “nightmare scenario”, in his words, for an athlete as it could prohibit travel to Beijing, admission to the Olympic bubble, and/or the ability to compete in the Games?  

    “It would be silly to pretend that that’s not a stressor, right? I think it’s important to acknowledge that, COVID, especially the variants, are everywhere. It seems like every day, you hear about an athlete or somebody getting sick, and so that is hard. But I think one thing that we’ve done really well is created a bubble with really strict rules that we feel really safe within.”

    Diggins explained that the team who is currently based in Livigno has minimal contact with those outside of their “bubble”. The chef is the only person from the group who goes to the grocery store, always while wearing a KN95. Otherwise, the small group only interacts with its members, not entering any buildings beyond the house they are staying in. Athletes who have recently flown over from the U.S. are staying in a separate apartment to quarantine for a week, before joining the larger team. 

    With reassurance from daily antigen testing and weekly PCR testing, they are living a monk-like lifestyle focused on heading out the door to train, and otherwise focusing on optimal nutrition, recovery, and logistical preparations for the Games.

    “We’re trying really, really hard to make sure we protect each other. So even when we’re in this house, when we leave the room, we have our mask on. So you’ll be hanging out in the living room and everyone has KN95s on. So it’s a lot. And I think you hear the phrase ‘out of an abundance of caution’ everywhere now, but I think that is what we’re doing – taking all the cautionary steps that we can.”

    Futterman acknowledged that for some, these protective measures can have an adverse effect on stress levels; rather than reassurance, the constant vigilance might leave an individual “freaked out”. Diggins affirmed that the decrease in risk relieved far more tension than the heightened awareness caused. 

    “It would be more stressful to feel like we’re just risking it… I think that wearing masks has actually lowered everyone’s tension level because you don’t have to wonder ‘what if?’ because we know that the masks work. So if you are wearing your mask, you don’t have to be stressed, because you’re doing everything that you can. I think that mentality of: ‘We’re going all in to protect not just ourselves, but each other’ is actually less stressful. Because if you’re the person who isn’t wearing masks and going into stores, and then you bring [exposure] into the team – that would be the actual nightmare scenario if you got someone else sick. So, for me, at least, and for the teammates here, so far that I can tell, it’s less stressful to just know that you’re doing everything possible.”

    Jessie Diggins wins the opening stage of the 2021/22 Tour de Ski, a freestyle sprint in Lenzerheide, SUI. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    While the team has carefully been collaborating in Livigno, it is unclear what the opportunities to be together and support one another will look like once they’re on the ground in China. Diggins shared her limited knowledge of what communication and time together might look like during the Games, responding to whether it might be more isolating than years past.

    “I think some of that we’re just gonna have to feel out once we’re on the ground and see and feel, after a week, what’s the situation here? How safe do we feel? How good is the WiFi in terms of having team meetings over Zoom instead of needing to find a place where we can do it in person and all wear masks. I think our team has been really, really good about masking protocols, so I do feel like there might be opportunities there.”

    In terms of lodging during the Games, Diggins shared that the team will be sharing a set of apartments with four athletes per unit, split between two bedrooms with a common area in between. 

    “So at least to be able to make a pod with three other people. Beyond that, we’ll just have to feel it out,” she concluded. 

    In terms of where we can expect to see Diggins on the start lists during the Games, that also remains to be determined, which is a slight shift from what Diggins shared following Period I, earlier this season. 

    “The original plan was to just race everything, assuming, of course, that I have start rights to do so. And then, earlier in the year, I was thinking, ‘I hear it’s really cool – which, yay! Love it. I hope it is cold. I want it to really be winter. But if it is incredibly cold, the way it was in Ruka, that becomes really draining, because you’re out there for so long. It’s not just the race; it’s the warm up, it’s the cool down. You’re outside going through the media zone, because you need to be outside because of COVID… But you’re out there for a while. So I think we’re going to look at the situation, once we’re on the ground and see, ‘What does the transport look like? How long does it take to get in and out of the venue? How cold is it? What kind of energy drain is this?’ And then we start making the plans on, ‘Does it make sense to do every single race? Or do I sit one out  in the middle and sort of store [energy] up?’ That said, traditionally, it’s been great for me to simply keep racing, it kind of takes care of itself. So I’m really excited for every single race and all these opportunities ahead, and I would I would love to be able to do that if it makes sense.”

    Diggins also fielded a variety of questions along the lines of comparing her feelings and preparations leading into these Games compared to the last two, given that she is both more experienced, and perhaps facing ever-increasing external expectations as she has steadily brought more attention to the sport. Diggins recently landed on the cover of both Sports Illustrated and Outside Magazines. 

    Jessie Diggins races the third leg of the women’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay in Lillehammer in December, 2021. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Many of these questions surrounded the pressure of being a defending Olympic Champion, who has since become a World Cup Overall Champion. Has this implied a steady building of pressure felt externally as more and more eyes will be focused on her in Beijing?

    “I think the pressures and expectations are definitely different,” Diggins reflected. “Headed into Sochi, I was coming in as a World Champion, (Diggins and Kikkan Randall won the team sprint in Val di Fiemme during the 2013 Championships.) but I felt that I didn’t have any eyes on me. I didn’t have any pressure to medal. I felt that – it was sort of a wonderful flying under the radar feeling of: ‘If I have a good race, awesome.’ Nobody expects anything. If I have a bad race, they’re like, ‘Cool, you’re young, whatever.’”

    With less focus on her first Olympic results, Diggins recalls a lighter atmosphere at the Sochi Games with more opportunities to explore a new place and attend competitions for other sport. This shifted as the internal and external pressure built to medal in 2018 in Korea.

    “And I do remember getting to go down to the coastal village [in Russia]… And I remember getting to go watch some of the biathlon races, so I actually got to go see other events. Then, in Pyeongchang, it was different because I came in with a lot of eyes and pressure and expectations. I never got to go see a single other event, because I was racing every single event of ours. So it was like race, recover, race-prep, race, recover, race-prep – it was just this cycle. So I felt that for me – I never went and saw the coast, I have no idea what South Korea looks like, someday I want to go back and see it and experience it. But I felt like it was very, very focused. And I know that in that way. Beijing will be the same. So for me, it’s not a huge shift…”

    While that focus may be a necessity for Diggins and other medal-favorite athletes at any Games, the pandemic and the resulting COVID-19 safety protocols that will be enforced in Beijing will likely make the isolated “race-prep, race, recover” cycle one all cross-country skiers will experience, regardless of how close their names will appear on results sheets. 

    “I am sad for my younger teammates, because I want them to have that first [Olympic] experience,” Diggins said somberly. “I know it will be a little bit different. At the same time they’re young and hopefully will have many Games in their future. So at some point, they’ll get that experience of getting to go and watch bobsled and hockey and figure skating and get a little bit of that feel of that huge team unity feeling, because I do think that was pretty cool. At the last two Games, you really felt connected to other sports. And one of my favorite things was like sitting in the Athlete Resource Center, watching a race with the bobsledders and hearing their reactions to our sport, and then watching their sport and then seeing how we react to their sport. It was so cool to feel really like the whole team USA was pulling together. So I hope that we find a way to still feel that, even though obviously, we’re going to be keeping our distance because keeping each other safe is paramount.”

    A silver lining of having more eyes, ears, and attention focused on Diggins is a proportionally larger microphone. Since earning a gold medal in 2018, Diggins has found her voice as an advocate, speaking out on topics ranging from eating disorders to climate change. 

    “My goal all along was to try to grow the sport and to try to do as much good outside of the race track as I possibly could. With my work with the Emily Program, Protect Our Winters, and the Share Winter Foundation, the goal is, ‘Let’s make this about more than just skiing.’ Because that way – win, lose, or draw – you’ve taken this time that you are in the spotlight and actually did something with it. And that does feel good. So in that way, it’s great to be one of the stars of Team USA, because that brings attention to mental health and climate change. And these things that I’ve been shouting about for four years – people are really listening.”

    With strong performances across all distances and race disciplines, Jessie Diggins is a medal favorite for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    “The flip side is, yeah, it is hard not to feel like there’s a lot of external pressure. But that doesn’t mean that I have to feel it. I know it’s there, and again – sort of like COVID – it would be silly to not acknowledge it. It would be silly to pretend that it’s not a thing. Of course it is. But for me, it’s more of like, ‘Whoa, what a cool, privileged place to be in. 15 year old Jesse would be so psyched to learn that this is how I’m coming into my third Olympics, let alone any Olympics.’ So for me, the key has been flipping it around and reframing it as an amazing privilege to get to carry this amount of pressure and hopefully show that it’s totally possible to come in and still be yourself; to care about the things you care about; to be a good teammate; and to just focus on what you can control. And you’ve just got to let the rest go.” 

    Perhaps the size and variety of media publications present at her conference is evidence on its own that Diggins has been identified, outright or otherwise, as an athlete to watch at the 2022 Games. Since the Pyeongchang Games, she has been on the podium in ten freestyle sprints, winning two. She was second behind Marit Bjørgen at the 30k freestyle at the Holmenkollen in March, 2018, the last time she competed in the event. 

    Diggins has raced three 7.5k/7.5 skiathlons in the last Olympic Quad, taking second to Norway’s Therese Johaug in December, 2019 and fifth place, behind an all-Norway podium plus Sweden’s Ebba Anderson in fourth, in January, 2021. And then there are the relays, for which she has been known since the beginning of her career. 

    Perhaps the only event where Diggins may not be considered a medal contender is the 10k classic. While she just one podium in this event over the last Quad, third place in Val Müstair in the 2020/21 Tour de Ski with a Norwegian-free field, she has cracked the top-10 enough times not to be ruled out. 

    Jessie Diggins skis to 13th in the 10-kilometer mass start classic in Val di Fiemme, ITA during the 2021/22 Tour de Ski. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    With these performances across all race disciplines and distances, it might be impossible for Diggins not to feel some amount of pressure heading into Beijing. She explained that managing this, for her, comes down to taking ownership and control over her definition of success. 

    “One thing to understand is that when it comes to pressure, there will never be a point where you are enough, if you start listening to it, right, because then it’ll be ‘Will you podium?’ to ‘Why didn’t you win?’ And at some point, it’ll be, ‘Why didn’t you win by more? Why wasn’t it more impressive?’ There’s no end point. 

    “So it’s better to not let my self-worth be determined by anyone other than myself. And that’s easier said than done. It’s something I’m obviously still working on with my sports psychologist, but I think it’s so important to say that I get to define what success looks like. And I’m the only one who gets to say that and nobody else. It’s important for me to [establish] ahead of time what that means. And so for me success at the Games means crossing the finish line with nothing left in the tank and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I left it all out there. And that I feel confident I can do.”

    Diggins also proposed a definition that was multi-faceted, shifting the focus away from the outcomes on the podium or results list. 

    “The other thing success means is being a good teammate, like, Who are you off the snow? What kind of person? Are you? What do you stand for? How do you treat the people around you? That’s really important. And the third thing is, how did you prepare? Did you do everything possible? And not just in the last week or the last month? Or even the last year? The last decade of training for skiing? Have I put everything I have towards this? So I don’t have to wonder what if I had just committed? And if I can do all those things, and cross that finish line and look back and go, that was it? That was my best effort. And that was everything I had, then that will be success? And it doesn’t have to be a medal? It’d be great if it is. It will be fine, if it isn’t. Because at the end of the day, I know that whether or not you earn a medal is not within your control. You can’t control anyone’s effort, but your own. So I think that’s been so important for me in trying to deal with that kind of pressure.”

    Jessie Diggins takes second in the 10k free in Davos, behind winner Therese Johaug (NOR) and ahead of Frida Karlsson (SWE), both dominant distance skiers. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    Diggins concluded by sharing a quote that resonated with her from two-time Olympian and former national team coach, Pete Vordenberg. He said, “Every time you do something, it’s for the first time. And even if you do it again, it will be different. And you will be different. So enjoy it.”

    Unpacking this, Diggins explained, “I think that’s so important to remember because it’s not the same as Pyeongchang. And that’s okay. It’s going to be different. And it’s also going to be the first time I’ve ever been to this Olympics, because: different trails, different country, different year, different Jessie. So I think it’s important to remember that I don’t have to go in there defending anything. Nothing makes that medal and what I did four years ago disappear, and I won’t disappear if I don’t do it again.”

    Stay tuned for a few additional insights from Diggins coach and wax tech, Jason Cork, who also appeared at the conference. 

  • Olympics Preview: What We Know About the Courses and Venue

    Olympics Preview: What We Know About the Courses and Venue

    The season’s biggest races start in less than a month at a venue that is by all accounts well-designed, but also has yet to host an official FIS race. Here’s some of what is currently known about the National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Zhangjiakou, 100-plus miles northwest of Beijing in the Hebei province of China.

    The Courses

    The races will be held at altitude. The stadium is located at an elevation of roughly 1,650 meters above sea level (appr. 5,400 feet), according to the homologation certificates, and the 8.3 k loop reaches an elevation of 1,721 meters. The last comparable global championship was the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the stadium in nearby Soldier Hollow is between those two heights. It is not coincidence that the presumptive American Olympic team is spending this month in some or all of Seefeld, AUT, Livigno, ITA or Park City, UT to log more time at altitude in advance of the Games.

    You can find full homologation certificates for all of the Zhangjiakou courses here. Here are excerpts from some of the course profiles. Note the color key, which indicates that an A-Climb is highlighted in yellow, a B-Climb in orange, descents in blue, and undulating terrain in green. 

    Zhangjiakou sprint course. (screenshot from FIS homologation certificate)
    Zhangjiakou 3.3 k course. (screenshot from FIS homologation certificate)
    Zhangjiakou 5 k course. (screenshot from FIS homologation certificate)
    Zhangjiakou 8.3 k course. (screenshot from FIS homologation certificate)

    Going off of simple math alone, the sprint course features a maximum climb of 30 meters, the same as the sprint course in Falun, SWE. The distance courses feature roughly 39 meters of climbing per kilometer, at the high end of the allowable homologation range but very much in line with other championship courses. You can consult the homologation certificates for a more nuanced look at overall gradient, course flow, and associated statistics.

    More holistically, the 14-meter climb back up to the stadium, in the final half-kilometer of all courses, is notable, at least in contrast to venues that feature a downhill into the stadium. A follow-up article in the next few weeks will compare this aspect of the Zhangjiakou courses to other recent championship courses.

    A recent Instagram post from Rene Altenburger-Koch, a tech for the German biathlon team, provides a firsthand look at skiing some parts of the courses, including the stadium. Additional ephemera may be gleaned from other Instagram posts tagged as coming from Zhangjiakou.

    Intriguingly, rumor has it that the warmup track at the venue is underground. This is perhaps less noteworthy in track and field, where major international stadia often have a small warmup track near the athletes’ call room, near bathrooms and out of view of spectators. It seems more notable when it appears to describe a ski tunnel–like environment.

    Conditions

    It is widely expected to be cold and dry. This was presaged in a research paper in the Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise blurbed on this site last May, which was summarized as stating, “The Beijing venue has a very high probability of temperatures near the lower limit permitted for FIS races (-20C). Combining cold with higher elevation and low humidity results in suggested pacing adjustments to ensure good lung function at the end of races.” Matt Whitcomb, in discussing the Period 1 races held near this temperature limit early in this World Cup season, similarly referred to these races as being good prep for the Olympics.

    Screenshot image of Olympic venue in late December 2021, taken from video published on news site ruptly.tv. (original video)

    Expect entirely manmade snow throughout the venue; natural snowfall in the region is negligible, and two weeks ago the ground was bare everywhere outside the ski trails and stadium (see background of photo above, or background of this Instagram post). A comparable preview article published two weeks ago on SkiRacing.com and discussing the alpine venue at Xiaohaituo Mountain (A+ title: “What to expect when you’re inspecting”) unpacks some implications of this for waxing and ski performance. This is not to say that precisely the same conditions will be present in Zhangjiakou, dozens of miles away at a different venue, but rather to flag some relevant issues to consider here.

    For the alpine runs, for example, that author foresaw “average annual snowfall of 5cm/2 inches, high winds, very low temperatures, sunny days and clear nights,” all of which also describes likely conditions in Zhangjiakou. She also noted the possibility of “sand blowing in from Mongolia and debris from the massive earthmoving during trail construction” being present in the snow. She described one wax manufacturer formulating a “special series of Beijing waxes for extreme cold temperatures, extremely aggressive snow and massive daily temperature swings due to sun exposure.” This is all likely broadly applicable to conditions at Zhangjiakou as well.

    What about the waxing

    To paint in very broad strokes here on a potentially touchy subject, the American skiers appear to have had “good” skis for some races in Pyeongchang, but, shall we say, “not as good” skis for some races in Seefeld and Oberstdorf. Given that euphemistic use of “not as good,” keep in mind as you read this section the norms that generally govern reporting on or public statements about the efficacy of wax jobs in this country: By the time an athlete is expressing polite concern about her wax job to the American press, it is probably the case that her skis were, objectively speaking, noticeably worse than other athletes’.

    You may have seen this photo before: Jessie Diggins (14) edges Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) for gold, while Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (l) races to bronze, in the women’s freestyle team sprint final at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)

    Regarding Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Olympics, if you’re reading this website you are probably familiar with a certain highlight that ends with Chad Salmela’s epochal cri de cœur (“Here comes Diggins!”). But rewind 56 seconds, to the descent off the top of the final downhill coming into the stadium, and you will see Diggins rocket into contention midway though the downhill. Her skis were, it appears from this video, at worst “competitive,” and at best “fastest in the field.” The air temperature for this race was -5.4 C and the snow temp was -10.1 C, according to the official results.

    Regarding Seefeld, the 2019 World Championships, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen told this website, following the 30-kilometer freestyle at the end of two weeks of racing, that while she generally felt good on course, “It’s just so hard because you can’t control what you have on your feet a lot of the time.” She added, “At this level you have to have your skis at a level that can compete if you’re going to fight for a medal or even top 10, top 20. And there were some races this week that that was not the case.” Air temp for this race was +5.6 C and the snow temp was -0.3 C, according to the official results. (Disclosure: In this same article, teammate Jessie Diggins said, of the same race in the same conditions, “I had the best skis in the world.”)

    Jessie Diggins races in the skiathlon in Oberstdorf, February 2021. (photo: Modica/NordicFocus)

    Finally, regarding Oberstdorf, the 2021 World Championships, the ever-upbeat Diggins contemporaneously told this website, following a rough day in the skiathlon for the entire American women’s team, “I think that is so promising to see how well [my teammates] skied given the disadvantage that we had today. I think, to me, that is really impressive because it is easy to put together a good race when you have the fastest wax in the field. It is harder to just never give up and keep fighting [in less advantageous conditions], and to me, that is so much more impressive.” Air temp for this race was +3.2 C and the snow temp was -0.6 C.

    Writing several months later in the Boulder Nordic Sport catalog (page 6 of this PDF), U.S. Ski Team coach and wax tech Jason Cork spoke more bluntly when discussing this race and the championships more broadly: “I thought Jessie should medal in the 10km, and she missed the bronze by 5.1 seconds. I thought she could medal in the skiathlon; I’ve never been more sick and angrier about screwing up skis as I did that afternoon. We’d hoped to finally get the women the championship relay podium they’ve been chasing since 2013, and we weren’t able to deliver skis competitive enough to make it a reality. It was warm and soft, course access was severely limited, we got outsmarted and outgunned. We stood in the way of a lot of dreams in Oberstdorf.”

    Zach Caldwell, for his part, has voiced the opinion that the Americans’ relative lack of tech resources, specifically the lack of an on-site stonegrinder and a centralized grind system, has harmed them in the last two championships held in warm and sloppy conditions. If some of these premises are correct, then forecast waxing conditions in Zhangjiakou that are far more akin to those in Pyeongchang than to those in Seefeld or Oberstdorf could be beneficial for the American tech team. (Find more insights into the challenges ski technicians will likely face during the Games in the latest episode of The Devon Kershaw Show, featuring Caldwell. Spoiler alert: These dynamics are in fact a whole lot more complicated than just “cold = easy, warm = difficult,” and Caldwell knows a heck of a lot more about this area than this reporter, so you should probably listen to him.) 

    The first cross-country race in this year’s 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be the women’s skiathlon, held on February 5.

    Related reading:

    Olympics Preview: Team Quotas, or, Why as Few as Five American Men Could be Going to Beijing (FasterSkier, December 2021)