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After a hot and rainy season, the athletes’ temperature dropped to Lilhammer, Norway this weekend. Saturday’s race schedule was 30km squatter, but low snow conditions forced a last-minute change to 15km. In the wake of last season’s Covide Games and the lack of snow this year, athletes will have to wait another year to return to the classic course of the Snowball Stadium. Instead, the race was held at the former Bathlon Stadium, where the ice rink was in storage, and the men’s 3.6 km race was completed four times. Still, it was winter when athletes lined up to jump and reach the ice and 18 degrees Fahrenheit on the starting lineup.
While individual start races can often be one or two skiers who control the gaps from the start, today’s race was difficult to identify at the beginning. First, the race was difficult to visualize, with this defective reporter having less camera than usual. For another, in the 61-42 Norwegian beginners’ group, most Russian men did not start for another ten minutes or more, wearing the red-bib Alexander Balshnov (RUS) fifteen minutes later. Un sown and finally won by Norwegian Simon Hegstad Kruger. Therefore, it is appropriate to repeat the famous saying, “Do not count until your chickens have hatched,” and “Do not count until you have crossed the finish line.”
Last weekend, in the absence of Norwegian men in the 15km skate chase in Ruka, they seemed to be reaffirming their depth and strength in their homeland, and at first it was clear that they were parting. But as more Russians come out of the course, it seems we are seeing a recurring theme. At 3.7 k Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) had the fastest time, closely following in the footsteps of Rus, along with his three other teammates, Hans Cristoster Holland and Johannes Hospitalflot Clebebo They were the only Norwegians in the 5th and 10th. The 6.1k Czech skier was Michael Novak and took the lead Kruger Although the Russians occupy four to six and nine places (NOR) did not build the road.
However, as the race wore on the Russians, the Norwegian wave began to blow faster and faster.
Constant NOR reached the ski resort, followed by teammate Holland. At the 4.6k mark, Kruger had the fourth fastest, 7.4k, the second fastest division, and the 9.8k. Leading champion Ustiguov (RUS) passed behind Norway +1: 08.7 and finally finished 24th. The rest of the question started with Bib 70 – RUS.
At 6.1 km, Bolshevik was in sixth place, 7.4 km in 8.3 km, but was first. In the 6th 9.8 km, Kruger would take the gold and, for sure, Bolshanov could not get anything in the last 5 km, returning from Kruger in the 14th, + 44.3 seconds.
It was a tough competition with Holland. [starting] 30 seconds ahead of Rugger, ”Kruger told the FIS after the race. “We had to give everything we had, I knew he was in good shape and I gave everything to him. It was a good war. “
Hans Christer Holland finished second just 1.6 seconds behind his compatriot. The darkest horse of the day was Martin Lostrom Nenget of Norway, who finished 10th in the 9.8 km from 10th place to the third stage of the World Cup. (Ning was third. The 2020 FIS skis tour had the Oscards Classic upgrade and the fastest time of the day.
So the 15K Skate was another platform for the men, this time the red, white and blue colors that belonged to Norway. Indeed, if there were any doubts about their authority as a nation, it would be obvious to see the results sooner rather than later. Seven out of ten places and ten out of twenty, their presence is hard to miss. “It was a great day for the Norwegian team,” says Kruger.
Gus Schumacher, who led the North American Army, finished the day in 38th place, behind Kruger +1 ፡ 39.6, but only 18 seconds behind the 30th place skiing. In a field where there are more Norwegian beginners than in any other weekend, this result is important, although not in the FIS scores.
Canada’s Anthony Sir, who finished 11th in the 15km race in Ruka last weekend, finished 42nd. In an interview with the FIS ahead of the tournament, Sir said, “Ruka is always a difficult weekend for us because we are from North America and we are far from home. But, it’s a good move and yes, I was very happy with the result. Asked about the various courses at the Lilhammer Sir this weekend, he said, “This weekend will be tough. Skating is not my strongest suit. To give one hundred percent ”
Following Sirne, the Canadian men finished 56th in Olivier Levy (+2 ፡ 28.3), 57th in Russell Kennedy (+2 ፡ 28.6) and 69th for Graham Richie (+3 ፡ 44.2).
Zanden McMulan is the second-ranked winner of the United States in 48th place (+2 ፡ 03.9). In 63rd (+2: 52.3), David Norris in 64th (+2: 54.3), Ben Ogden in 67th (+3: 32.2) and Scott Patterson in 70th (+3: 35.8).
Patterson recently returned to the World Cup after undergoing surgery on his right wrist. Patterson has been described by doctors as a “race” and still does not feel ready for the World Cup. Here are some suggestions on how to use it.
Patterson said: “My wrist is improving, but it is also limiting racing. “It’s been more than 5 weeks since surgery. To keep up with the maintenance, I am still racing in the brakes today. This eliminates a lot of stress on the wrist, but it does improve my technique and make some skating more difficult. In racing today, I feel good about my wrist, but my energy balance is offset. I could not use my upper body properly during racing. On a steady course like today, this means that I am working harder than I need to on a ski. This made me feel a little tired of skiing aerobic tax. I also feel that my recent training is a great start and I am not very ready for race efforts.
“I know today that I am not really ready to compete. I did not make any time-consuming tests to prioritize wrist recovery and was limited in time due to my recent flu. Overall, I feel good about my fitness, but I need a little time to get into the race form and figure out how to save my wrist while minimizing limitations. I am also working on skiing and racing without a strap, but even after removing the strap, it will take some time to gain confidence in the strength of my wrist. I feel like my ski without it is very naked and unprotected. I need some time to build my transition to ski and push V2 into the hills.
Focusing on the long game, Patterson concludes with a 1-point presentation that simplifies his return to the competition.
“Now I will put all my energy into saving my wrist and running it one by one. It wasn’t the way I wanted to start today, but there are a lot of reasons behind my wrist and I’m still on the road to scoring goals this season. ”
The race continues tomorrow with a 4 x 7.5 km to complete the long weekend in Lilhammer.
Final results
