Fasterskier.com got a chance to ask US Ski Team Head coach Trond Nystad a few questions right after the incredibly hard and exciting 70 kilometer Marcialonga FIS World Cup and Marathon Cup race last weekend.
This race was shown live from start to finish in many European countries and followed by 70,000 spectators – 35,000 of them in the finish area.
“Trond, we have followed the Marcialonga World Cup and the excitement around it. Can you give us some comments about how you and your skiers experienced this event as well as plans and expectations for the upcoming World Cup races for US all-around skiers as well as for the sprinters?”
“The Marcialonga is a very special race and we probably lack a little experience in racing and preparing for such an event. Carl had a great race and Kris also did well.
We selected the wrong pair of skis for Kris and gave him a smaller structure that filled up with dirt and became very slow after 20 km. He had no chance on the downhills, but was tough and made it work.
We are at the moment in Seiseralm for a training camp and will then travel to La Clusaz in the middle of next week. We are hoping for some good results there as the rest of the team has had time to acclimate by then. The sprinters are ready to go, but we will not see much action from them until The Oberstdorf sprint relay. Then from Stockholm, Sweden on they will be busy. Torin Koos and Andy Newell will then race all the World Cup sprints together with Lars Flora and maybe Dave Chamberlain.
It’s still premature to say how we are going to fare, but we hope to qualify racers in most of the sprints. Everyone is doing well, but is tired after the race. Lars Flora also raced and then went to The Norwegian Nationals. Justin Freeman is sick. David Chamberlain and Rebecca DuSault will join us in Drammen, Norway in late February for the rest of the season. It should be exiting and hopefully also very successful”
