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#1
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NordiX at the olympics?
Just wondering if there have been any suggestions regarding whether NordiX might make an appearance as a demo sport at the next winter olympics or beyond? Given that we now have snowboard cross... I'd have thought NordiX might stand a chance? Anyone know anything? Cheers, Chris |
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#2
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I think it would be a really cool thing because it would combine to
combine speed, aerobic capacity and technical skills. Kids are naturally playful on skis and I think this would be an extension of that. I see them at our club playing on ready-made jumps and skiing up and down vertical structure they can find. I guess clubs and ski areas would have to start building some shorter loops with some interesting skill-testing elements and hold some events to build grassroots support. Chris |
#3
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cpella wrote:
I think it would be a really cool thing because it would combine to combine speed, aerobic capacity and technical skills. Kids are naturally playful on skis and I think this would be an extension of that. I see them at our club playing on ready-made jumps and skiing up and down vertical structure they can find. I guess clubs and ski areas would have to start building some shorter loops with some interesting skill-testing elements and hold some events to build grassroots support. It seems a few nordic ski areas in the US are putting in terrain parks specifically for x-country skiiers (or skiiers on x-country gear anyway... the purists probably don't see it as true x-country skiing!). Personally I think the freestyle sprints at the olympics are pretty exciting anyway, but the crowd-drawing ability of something like snowboard cross is still much greater, and I think a _much_ larger audience (and thus more participants) could be drawn to something like NordiX if it were more widely seen. The format of 4 competitors in a heat on skinny skis navigating a tricky series of downhill berms and jumps with either one or two uphill sections is defintely a winner, I think. It's short, it's fast, it has mass-start appeal, lots of opportunities for crashes (and as a corollary to that, requires significant skills development in maneuvering in close quarters over tricky terrain) and the uphill component, typically leading to the finish, will be something different for the alpine/snowboard crowd to watch... athletes struggling, at high speed, _UP_ a hill to the finish line. Anyway, I'll stop babbling. It's just something I'd love to see proliferate further at an international and hopefully olympic level. And I suspect it would capture a large segment of snow-goers not currently interested in (or indeed aware of) nordic skiing. Chris |
#4
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I hope not. There are enough bull**** events in the olympics. In that I
consider anything with a snowboard or anything "extreme". Throw ice dancing in there too. |
#5
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#6
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Hmmm, I have just been watching the 500m Nordic sprint at the Olys
(mind you it did follow a 49.5k warm-up). But yes, you have a point, 1.2 k is tough for youngsters, especially if they have to repeat it a few times. I would be interested to know what happened to Andrew Newell after his excellent time trial. Did he just blow up in the knockout stage, or was the problem coping with the traffic? The kids love nordicross and it develops skills too. I would like to see more of it. So long as there is no subjective marking........ Alex |
#7
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#8
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While it's true that some older established distance skiers compete
well in the "sprints", most of the leaders in this category excel at the shorter distances. Were any of the top 3 men's finishers considered serious distance threats? I think people get confused by the term sprint. In paddling 500m and 1000m are considered sprints, but they are minutes in length. The sprints in xc are more like the 800m and 1500m in track, or the kayak "sprints". You do see 1500m runners moving up to 5k and 10k and even the marathon, so there are some parallels. I think the xc sprints are working quite well. The fans love them and it gives some skiers a chance to participate who aren't physiologically or mentally cut out for going out and hammering for 2 hours in the woods. |
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