On Dec 12, 9:57*pm, wrote:

After taking a couple of years off to get married and have a child,
it's nice to see Smigun is back and nearing the top. *In her first
race two weeks ago at Kuusamo, she finished in the mid 20s and today
3rd at Davos in the 10k skate, beating Marit Bjoergen by three seconds
and losing second to Charlotte Kalla by a few tenths. *To my mind,
Smigun has always been one of the more sensible skiers out there,
taking breaks during the season on Egyptian beaches and spending
recovery time on Florida ones. She had one unfortunate break several
years ago, as I recall: she was set up to train in the off season with
Bente Skari, only to have the plug pulled when Skari decided to
retire.

A sample of Norwegian humor: http://www.nrk.no/magasin/humor/1.3185249

IIRC last season there were rumours that she was back in training and
would be back in time for some late season races, but she never
showed up. Apparently she had forgotten that according to the doping
rules she couldn't start before she had been on the official WADA list
of active athletes for six months.

I'm glad to see her, but there are those who believe that she may have
benefitted from "unfair advantages" gained during the time she was off
the list (and therefore not subject to doping tests) and especially
those who believe that she wasn't innocent in the notorious "negative
B-sample" case are just as unpleased to see her do well as they are
when Irina Khazova (who has just returned from, a two-year doping
ban, during which she reportedly wasn't tested even once) steps on the
podium.


Since Terje is mysteriously silent despite Petter Northug having the
best distance race of his life in Davos, I'll take this opportunity to
boast that Matti Heikkinen is here to stay and to express my
astonishment at the very "Norwegian (in a wet classic race)" team
result: no less than four Frenchmen in the top six and five in the top
eight! Oh la la!


Anders