Pete Vordenberg has done a great job in a number of Fasterskier.com articles this past season explaining the story behind the results for the athletes and coaches on the US Ski Team. Reading his descriptions have given our readers a whole new understanding for what it really means of sacrifices and hard work to be an athlete or coach striving for World Cup excellence or Olympic glory. There is a whole new understanding for the team’s training theory and what it really means to work out — twice a day, travel and race day in and day out without brakes.
To follow up on Pete’s articles I contacted US Head Cross Country Coach Trond Nystad and asked if he was willing to discuss some of the “harder to answer questions†regarding this years results and to fill us in on realistic expectation for the upcoming two years.
Trond looked at this as good idea and a way to clear up some issues that might be hard to understand both for the general public and for those who follow cross country closely.
His comment was: “It’s nice to get some tough questions now and then — let’s get it onâ€.
Here is the interview:
Trond, the next World Championship is coming up next season and the Olympic Games in Turin, Italy are less than two years away. The US Ski and Snowboard Team has stated that their goal is to be “best in the World” by 2006. What can the US cross country skiers realistically contribute toward this?
â€As an organization the USSA has stated that the goal is to be the best in the world. The cross country team will be part of this success by putting people on the podium. Both Carl Swenson and Kris Freeman have been very close to the podium in the last World Championships and in World Cup races. Our goal for the 2005 World Championships is to win one medal. For the 2006 Olympics our goal is to win two medalsâ€.
While we realize both Carl and Kris occasionally are only seconds from the podium, we also feel that the men's regular distance racing group behind them might not have taken “the next step up” as hoped for this year?
â€Unfortunately we have not been successful with all athletes on the team. Two out of the six national team members did not score world cup points and this must improve.
Andrew Johnson, Wendy Wagner and Justin Freeman all had sickness issues that set them back significantly. We have carefully evaluated the last four years of training and preparation for all these athletes and come up with solutions that will enable them to become internationally competitive athletes. There is no doubt that when the athletes stay healthy they will all be internationally competitive athletes and score world cup pointsâ€.
What about the sprinters progress and chances?
“We have made some major breakthroughs in sprint results this year. Both Torin Koos and Andrew Newell have shown that they can qualify and be competitive in a World Cup sprint. We also have talented athletes like Kikkan Randall, Chris Cook, Leif Zimmerman, Zach Simmons and Lindsey Williams who also have done well internationally. They are all very young athletes that have a lot of potential in the near and distant future. We have carefully evaluated our sprint program and have decided that we need to focus on some specific areas. These are: Gain leg and upper body strength; focus on quick application of power and completing all movements; build in periods of heavy VO2 Max trainingâ€.
 in the sprint events?</B><br />
“I think that the sprint event will stay at roughly 1500m for men and 1200 for women. This is a distance where one can have a fair race and where it still is possible for fast distance skiers to qualify and do well. There might be more people qualifying, which is also good as it gives more people a chance to ski more races. Sprinters who do not<br />
qualify top 16 end up racing very little and this is not good. Otherwise it is hard to say what changes will come around. No matter what the sprint event looks like, I feel that we have talented athletes that can do wellâ€.</p>
<p><B>The top US women are struggling in international competition. Rebecca Dussault showed some potential at the end of the year. What's your plans and hopes for the women?</B></p>
<p>â€We are definitely struggling a little on the women's side. I do however feel that we can do well with the athletes that we have. Wendy Wagner will be very good when she gets healthy, Rebecca Dussault just returned to the sport, and needs more time to train and prepare right. Kikkan Randall, Lindsey Williams and Lindsey Weir are other athletes who have been doing well internationally and nationally. They are still very young, so with a few more years of training and preparation they can also be very good. The women must work together to become good internationally. We need one woman to lead the way and show the rest of the skiers in this country that it is possible. The gained confidence will then lead to many more great racersâ€.</p>
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