What a day

First I saw Bill Demong, then I watched the 18 year old Yohaug girl, followed by our own Potter on his home ground.
And all this before breakfast.

The day continues
Scrolling thru the TV channels eating my lunchtime sandwich I found on TV Polonia the start of a Loppet race.
I dont know the event, it was called Bieg Piastow and I just caught the Start.
There was only one fixed stadium camera and a roving reporter. Very strong wind and driving wet snow in your face, just like our races used to be when we had snow in Scotland.
Once the lead waves had gone, the rest of the circa 3000 racers were mostly dressed in full winter outdoor gear and towards the end it was just like a club outing.
Two teen boys walking with momma and each holding a sleeve on her jacket to keep her upright. A slight dip across a meadow and people stopped, formed a plow and gingerly pushed forward.
Such enthusiasm, you lucky guys probably see this type of action all the time.

dardruba wrote:
First I saw Bill Demong,
Go USA!

(He's got a Norwegian coach at least. :-)

then I watched the 18 year old Yohaug girl,

Johaug, it's pronounced the way you wrote it.

She's the real thing indeed, the original 'Energizer Bunny'.

She fell early on, but then she 'simply' skied past the field on the
outside, outside the tracks. :-)

Afterwards she told on NRK1 how she had to take the lead 'because the
pace was far too slow'.

Remember, this was her first 30 k ever!

followed by our own Potter on his home ground.
And all this before breakfast.

I've spent the day on my birthday present from my wife last year:

A kite-skiing course here in Rauland.

We didn't get enough wind today, but the local forecast for tomorrow is
a lot better. :-)

Terje
--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

Terje Mathisen kirjoitti:


Johaug, it's pronounced the way you wrote it.
She's the real thing indeed, the original 'Energizer Bunny'.

As the race progressed, it was quite impossible to keep the image of
the bunny in the advert out of one's head:-)


Afterwards she told on NRK1 how she had to take the lead 'because the
pace was far too slow'.

It's like another young woman with no respect for the alleged
necessity of experience in big events and no fear of leading the pack,
Charlotte Kalla, said: "You have to ski as hard in the 30th position
as you have in the lead."

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen couldn¨t really forgive herself for sleeping
through the crucial moments of the race, it was probably her only and
last chance to get an individual medal. (She admitted that she had
expected the young Norwegian to become a push-over in the last 5-8
km.)


Remember, this was her first 30 k ever!

OTOH what does it tell us about the sport and the event when someone
as young and inexperinced as she can reach the podium - I mean, it's
one thing when it happens in skijumping, but quite another in what has
been described as the "queen" of all championship races:-)


Anders

"Anders" wrote:

Afterwards she told on NRK1 how she had to take the lead 'because the
pace was far too slow'.

It's like another young woman with no respect for the alleged
necessity of experience in big events and no fear of leading the pack,
Charlotte Kalla, said: "You have to ski as hard in the 30th position
as you have in the lead."

One of the American women who had won the trip to Sapporo by leading
the national "supertour" commented after the pursuit about how it had
been all hurt all the time, something she didn't know to expect. She was
still dealing with a cold, but still... She didn't do any better a week
later in the 30k.
http://www.ussamedia.com/photos_audi...untry/sapporo/
(Compton 10K).

Remember, this was her first 30 k ever!

OTOH what does it tell us about the sport and the event when someone
as young and inexperinced as she can reach the podium - I mean, it's
one thing when it happens in skijumping, but quite another in what has
been described as the "queen" of all championship races:-)

It means that for whatever reasons there's increasing precociousness
among young skiers - Northug, Kalla, Norgren, Johaug and a few from
other countries - and the adults better accept it. However, it's yet
to be shown that they can turn in results week in week out (e.g.,
Northug). Most coaches protect their better young skiers for very good
reasons by keeping them out of WC competitions, but I think it's
helpful for the better younger ones to see where they are at and what
it takes. That's easier to do or prepare for in European countries
during the national championships and other competitons where genuinely
WC-level skiers participate.

rm

Anders wrote:
Terje Mathisen kirjoitti:


Johaug, it's pronounced the way you wrote it.
She's the real thing indeed, the original 'Energizer Bunny'.

As the race progressed, it was quite impossible to keep the image of
the bunny in the advert out of one's head:-)


Afterwards she told on NRK1 how she had to take the lead 'because the
pace was far too slow'.

It's like another young woman with no respect for the alleged
necessity of experience in big events and no fear of leading the pack,
Charlotte Kalla, said: "You have to ski as hard in the 30th position
as you have in the lead."

This is only true (or close to true) in classic, skating seems to give
significantly higher benefits from drafting.

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen couldn¨t really forgive herself for sleeping
through the crucial moments of the race, it was probably her only and
last chance to get an individual medal. (She admitted that she had
expected the young Norwegian to become a push-over in the last 5-8
km.)

So did most of the Norwegians as well, she did get dropped in the
Norwegian champs after all.


Remember, this was her first 30 k ever!

OTOH what does it tell us about the sport and the event when someone
as young and inexperinced as she can reach the podium - I mean, it's
one thing when it happens in skijumping, but quite another in what has
been described as the "queen" of all championship races:-)

Terese Johaug has been very active all her life, but she specialized in
xc just two years ago.

The national sports coaches is using this as yet another proof of the
idea that early specialization is unneeded, and might even be negative.

Terje

--
-
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

On Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:48:58 +0100, Terje Mathisen
wrote:

Terese Johaug has been very active all her life, but she specialized in
xc just two years ago.

The national sports coaches is using this as yet another proof of the
idea that early specialization is unneeded, and might even be negative.

Very cool.

--
JT
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Anders wrote
what does it tell us about the sport and the event
when someone as young and inexperinced as she
can reach the podium

One possible explanation is that the leading European teams are finally
narrowing down into a pretty good understanding of Skating technique -
(after having worked the theory through the pros + cons the "norwegian
skating project") -- better theory now, matched with better tools like video
analysis software, and laboratory 3D sensor skating treadmills.

So now young racers exposed to a top-rank coaching environment can get their
flaws identified early and reliably thru software "overlay" of their videos
against winning team-leaders or competitors -- instead of years and years of
hit-or-miss experimentation based on old coaching lore.

What is the physiological basis for why young athletes cannot perform well
in 30km ski race? (other than lack of attention span and motivation due to
early sustained exposure to modern consumer society)

About three years ago I remember some 14-year-old girls and a boy delivering
a pretty credible finish ranking in a 100km inline-skating race.

Ken