Fasterskier.com translates some news excerpts by Allan Aabech from the October issue of Norwegian SKI Sport (<www.skisport.no):
Biathlon
Norwegian biathlon skiers Lars Berger and Frode Andresen captured 1st and 2nd at the Norwegian 50 kilometer Championship last winter. That was hard to swallow for the specialists. It also caused quite a bit of controversy when neither of the biathletes were chosen to race the 50-kilometer at the World Championship in Val di Fiemme where tired skiers tried (in vain) to defend Norway’s honor.
It’s interesting that the specialist this spring, in order to improve their skate technique asked Frode Andresen to come and help them.
The Norwegian Head coach Krister Sorgard explained:
“He knows a lot and everyone knows that his skate technique is excellent. We are stepping up and focusing on improving the skate training this season.â€Â
And what did the Biathlon Team do to improve their skiers skating skills?
They brought in Olympic and World Champion Thomas Alsgaard, the retired racer now turned rally-cross driver!
Cross Country
Members of The Norwegian National Men’s Team tested one of the stages in the bike race Tour de France at their centralEurope camp in June. The conclusion was very clear: It’s steeper, longer and tougher than it looks like. Anders Aukland, Jens Arne Svartedal and Odd Bjorn Hjelmset know what they are taking about. They biked the 160 kilometer stage from Albertville, the site of the 1992 Olympics and tested their skills climbing the passes and doing the incredible downhills at Alpe d’Huez. It took them roughly 6 hours and the experience reminded them about you often feel at the end of a 50 K — tired.
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Odd-Bjorn Hjelmset broke in August a record running as many times as possible up and down a small Norwegian mountain in 24 hours. The old record was 18 times. Hjemset's new record was 19 times. An orienteering runner crushed Hjelmset's record a few weeks later by making the trip 21 times.
Retired Olympic and World Champion Bente Skari is planning on traveling “around the World†this fall and winter with her husband Geir. On the agenda areUSA, South America and the Far East. That’s a good way of making sure that you don’t get caught up in World Cup excitement again —it’s usually live on European TV stations all winter.
In some years it’s important to ski as much as possible in your summer training. In others that’s not the right thing to do — in the summer. Biking a great deal seemed to have been important for the men’s team this year. The whole team participated in a bike race during an August dryland camp in Halden, close to the Swedish border. The race went from a town in Sweden and into Halden, Norway. Anders Aukland placed best among the skiers in 23rd place, 13 minutes behind cycling pro Rune Hoydal.
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