Nordic World Cup

The nordic skiing World Cup seasons are well underway, despite unwinterly weather in northern Europe. In ski jumping, the Finnish duo of Janne Ahonen and Matti Hautamaki are not duplicating their one-two punch from 2004-2005, which has opened the jumping to others. Going into this weekend’s events at Harrachov in his home county, Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic ranks number one in the world, ahead of Ahonen in the second spot and, in third, the Swiss Andreas Kuttel, who set a new large-hill record of 139 meters [456 feet] on the Olympic jump at Lillehammer, Norway, last weekend. (more on ski jumping - overall rankings)

The synthetic nordic sports of biathlon (cross-country skiing and target shooting) and nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing), on the other hand, are turning out largely as expected: with the usual suspects already atop the combined and men’s biathlon rankings and women’s biathlon wide open. Finn Hannu Manninen, the undisputed king of nordic combined, is again leading the pack, despite getting whacked with a ski pole by an irate German at last weekend’s events in Lillehammer. Notably, American Todd Lodwick is currently ranked fourth, having finished second by four-tenths of a second to Manninen in the sprint event at Lillehammer. With this kind of form, Lodwick has an excellent shot at a medal at the Torino Olympics in February.

On the men’s side of the biathlon circuit, Ole Einar Bjorndalen (Norway) and Raphael Poiree (France) are one-two in the overall, the positions they largely shared last year. Having won one of the races at the opening event in Ostersund, Sweden, the Norwegian’s top ranking would be higher had he not bizarrely dropped a pole during the first race this week at Hochfilzen, Austria, putting him into second place in that race behind Poiree. The German and Russian men are so far notably absent from the high places. The women’s biathlon races are far more open, with Germans Kati Wilhelm and Uschi Disl, Swede Anna Carin Olofsson, and Russian Olga Zaitseva all winning races so far. Zaitseva is currently atop the overall standings, a few points ahead of Disl. (more on biathlon races - men’s rankings - women’s rankings)

The cross-country athletes have done the most racing so far this year, and the topsy-turvy standings reflect it. The season opened in October with the traditional and strange sprints along the Rhine at Dusseldorf, Germany. Norwegian superstar Marit Bjorgen won the women’s individual sprint and paired with ageless Hilde G. Pedersen to take the women’s team sprint. When the season resumed at Beitostolen, Norway, in late November, Bjorgen did double duty again, taking the women’s 10k classic event and skating the anchor of the triumphant relay team. The next weekend, at Kuusamo, Finland, Bjorgen faltered slightly, winning the 10k classic but finishing off the podium in the 10k skate, which Czech Katerina Neumannova won. The Czech’s win vaulted her into third in the overall standings behind Bjorgen and Virpi Kuitunen of Finland. Relative unknowns Aino Kaisa Saarinen of Finland and Claudia Kunzel of Germany are fourth and fifth in the overall. The Norwegian is the odds-on favorite to win a second straight World Cup and, more importantly, a number of medals at Torino.

Comparatively, the men’s racing has been wildly varied. At Dusseldorf, Swede Peter Larsson won the individual sprint for the third straight year, but - if precedent holds - won’t win again this year. Norwegian duo Trond Iversen and Johan Kjoelstad took the men’s team sprint, an event featuring aggressive racing that caused a bad crash which knocked Italy’s team out. At Beitostolen, Tor Arne Hetland of Norway, who dominated the sprinting events last year and finished second in both the individual and team sprints at Dusseldorf, unexpectedly won a distance event, the 15k classic, instantly making himself a favorite for the overall World Cup. Norway’s strong relay team at Beitostolen was shocked on their home snow by the German quartet. Germany’s anchor, Tobias Angerer, masterfully attacked the field in the last kilometer, winning the race ahead of a surprising French team and the Norwegians. Germany thus looks like a possible favorite for the men’s relay at Torino, a marquee event. The next weekend at Kuusamo, Angerer showed that his form was no fluke, taking the 15k classic event and finishing third in the 15k freestyle race, behind Tore Ruud Hofstad and France’s Vincent Vittoz, On the strength of these results, the German is currently second in the overall men’s rankings, behind Hetland (who did poorly at Kuusamo), but ahead of Jens Arne Svartedal (Norway), Vittoz, and Hofstad. Though Angerer is certainly racing well now, he runs the risk of a mid-season collapse like that suffered by Axel Teichmann last year - something he can’t afford in this Olympic year. The so-far poor showings by Russians and Swedes may indicate that they are aiming to peak for Torino, or that they are just off the pace this year. And of course, cross-country wouldn’t be the sport it is without whiffs of blood doping. At Kuusamo, the German Jens Filbrich being accused and then cleared of blood doping.) (more on the racing at Eurosport and Fasterskier.com - men’s and women’s overall standings)

Looking forward, the XC World Cup makes a rare visit to North America with a complement of races at Sovereign Lake (Vernon), British Columbia, this weekend and Canmore, Alberta (site of the 1988 Olympic races), next week. Though the Norwegians and Germans will inevitably garner their share of podium spots, American and Canadian racers could also show up well. Canadian Beckie Scott has had good form in recent races, and could win any event she skis. American Carl Swenson had two top-12 places at Kuusamo, which puts him in 18th place in the overall rankings. And though he has yet to enter a World Cup race this season, Kris Freeman, the best US racer, is poised for top-10 positions, especially in the challenging 30k pursuit on Saturday (an event which demands that the racers complete 15k in the classic style and then 15k in freestyle), and the 30k mass-start classic race on Saturday, December 17, at Canmore.