The race was so exciting and dramatic that The International Ski Federation (FIS) should have this in mind when discussing and deciding the future of cross country skiing.
What are people talking about during their lunch break today?
Quite a few here in Europe will talk about the Aukland brother’s incredible performance in the Marcialonga classic marathon. They had lost their remaining kick wax and were double poling up the last 3 kilometer long uphill – this was after 67 kilometer of hard “blood torture”. The Italian home favorite wasn’t able to double pole anymore and tried to re-wax.
This performance was something special – something that we have not seen in previous World Cup races this season. People watching this on television could see the raw power and endurance. World class performance combined with incredible excitement.
. The exceptions have been the sprint races in Düsseldorf and the races in Eastern Europe.</p>
<p>There were 80,000 spectators at the Marcialonga – 35,000 of them in the finish area.<br />
Why not combine more marathon races into the World Cup?</p>
<p>The marathon races create an atmosphere, enthusiasm and interest that you don’t find around the regular World Cup races. You could even hold a 5/10 k a few days ahead and a sprint race the day before.</p>
<p>FIS has said that they want fewer race sites. They should then choose sites that already have a product with tradition, enthusiasm and spectators (like many of the marathons). This can combined with improved TV production create more interest for XC skiing. What we saw yesterday was television and Cross-Country skiing at its best.<br />
We think that Italians and Norwegians along with many other European nations are discussing Cross-Country skiing at lunch today.</p>
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