By Gavin Kentch
It’s a little unfair, apparently, to say that it is always rainy in Trondheim. The main issue today was wind. Like, 65mph, residents were directed to stay inside till noon, race start was pushed back several hours to let things die down, wind.
“The course was super dirty because of the wind, with all of the debris,” said JC Schoonmaker afterwards in a USSS press release. “And that was a big thing today for our wax techs, was to find something that wasn’t going to pick up all of the leaves, dirt and debris in the tracks.”
Schoonmaker skied the scramble leg for the American men, who ultimately finished seventh. Their North American rivals, Canada, bested them by two spots and nearly 40 seconds to finish fifth. Write your own tariffs joke here.
Norway won, of course; the result seemed preordained, but also you can’t fault four men for all skiing well when every single person in the entire country expected them to win going away. Switzerland took a gutsy second, 21.6 seconds back, with Swiss anchor Valerio Grond outdueling Edvin Anger down the stretch for silver. Sweden had to settle for bronze, 0.2 seconds back of Switzerland. France, Canada, and Italy were all within ten seconds back in fourth through sixth, before a gap back to the U.S. in seventh.
Embed from Getty ImagesNorway have now won the men’s world championships relay every single time it has been held this century, and every year since 1991 save one. In 1999 they were second to Austria. Christian Hoffmann pipped Thomas Alsgaard at the line that year to give the win to Austria, who were racing at home in Ramsau. He would have been wearing Adidas skate boots (see above; never forget), if that helps to date things for you.
The 0.2 seconds separating the two men in a race 26 years ago is the only thing keeping Norway from an unbroken gold medal streak in this race dating back to 1991. The oldest man on today’s winning team, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, was born in 1992.
Same point one last time: Leg two on that winning Austrian team in Ramsau was skied by Alois Stadlober, who is currently 62 years old. His daughter, Teresa Stadlober, 32, was fourth in the 10km classic on Tuesday.
In conclusion, the Norwegian men are good at skiing. Can’t get insights like that anywhere else.
Anyway. Here are some photos from today. The first one is by Gretchen Powers, @gpowersfilm. All others are by Noah Eckstein for Nordic Insights.
Race article up within the morning Alaska time. Here are results from today.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter toAmerican cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.
