The newest race format in Cross-Country skiing, Team Sprint, will become Olympic medal event in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. This was confirmed by the International Ski Federation, FIS, yesterday.
The current Team Sprint competition (as organized this season on the World Cup circuit) consists of 2-person teams. The two team members ski every other lap (alternating), tagging each other after each lap as in a normal relay competition. The 1.2 – 1.5 km sprint course will thus be skied 6 times.
This event will get it's Championship debut in Oberstorf at the 2005 Nordic World Ski Championship (WSC). The technique for this event will alternate between classical and free technique for each World Championship and Olympic Games, starting out in free technique at the 2005 WSC.
