By Langrenn.com
Several Norwegian skiers selected to compete at Worlds did not race well in Reit im Winkl, but those races were only used as a preparations for getting in shape for Worlds.
– We used the races as hard workouts following altitude training in Seiser Alm. Our athletes’ performances saw huge swings. Some felt good on Saturday and some on Sunday. That’s the type of variations you get after altitude, says chief of cross country Bjornar Hakensmoen.
The Norwegian team spent a little more than one week in Seiser Alm preparing for Worlds. You need several days to get acclimated to lower elevations following altitude training.
– It’s individual from skier to skier how they responds to altitude, but most everyone need a few days at lower elevations before they can peak, says Hakensmoen.
He won’t say if any of the skiers strengthened or weakened their chances of racing at Worlds.
– We are not selecting skiers for the events before a few days ahead of the upcoming race. But we have a picture of what has been performed previously this winter. We have seen certain tendencies and only this past weekend’s races showed variations from this, says Chief of Sport
Anders Aukland won the 42-kilometer long St. Johan — Koasalauf classic race in Austria on Sunday by almost a minute.
That was a good hard workout for Aukland and he also saw some good signals in workouts at sea level before Seiser Alm. He is racing another race next Sunday before he comes to Oberstdorf, says Hakensmoen
Most of the Norwegian team arrived Oberstdorf on Sunday.
We have got 60 centimeter of new snow after we got here and the conditions are great. This is going to be a great event, says Hakensmoen
