Source: Langrenn.com — Translated by Torbjorn Karlsen
Things did not go Kristen Skjeldal’s way at World’s last season. He was left out of the 15-kilometer and 4 x 10-kilometer relay squad despite being best Norwegian and capturing fourth place, only 1 second from third in the last World Cup skate race before Worlds. Skjeldal skied solid at Worlds when he got the chance and captured seventh in both the pursuit and the 50-kilometer classic, only 11 and 8 seconds behind the winners. These were good results, but not what he had hoped for.
He was very frustrated after the 50-kilometer mass-start race, which turned in to a pack race with moderate pace for 45-kilometer and ended with a mass-sprint. He called the event a tragic race parody.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/050902image001.jpg width=440 height=293 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana>Norwegian nationals: #143 Kristen Skjeldal (gold) is pulling #141 Odd-Bjrn Hjelmeset (silver), #140 Jens Arne Svartedal (bronze), Tore Bjonviken (8.place) # 138 Espen Harald Bjerke (4.place). Photo: Erland Lundby</font></center><BR><br />
-This isn’t how the 50km is supposed to be. All you had to do was sit and wait for the final sprint. I was hoping for a faster pace because I never really have it in those final sprints, says Skjeldal (from FasterSkier.com article 50km Comments From The Norwegian Team <a href=http://www.fasterskier.com/racing2038.html)
Skjeldal wasn’t able to beat his teammates in that race, but he got revenge and crushed them in the 50-kilometer classic individual start race at the Norwegian championship.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/050902image002.jpg width=440 height=239 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana> Skjeldal #1 at nationals</font></center><BR><br />
A new season<br />
Skjeldal has shown good results this summer in all the national team tests and says that he want to fight for Olympic start spots in every distance, but the sprint. </p>
<p>– I need to step it up if that’s going to happen, he adds</p>
<p>He is showing already now that he has to be counted on this upcoming season. At the recent national team camps he won an on-snow time-trial at Sognefjellet and an uphill rollerski race at the last dryland camp at Hafjell</p>
<p>He won the rollerski race by more than a minute to Tore Ruud Hofstad in second place. Skjeldal is still as usual, modest regarding his own recent performances.</p>
<p>– The uphill rollerski time-trial at Hafjell went very well, but I believe that the other skiers were a little tricked due to a recent distance workout we had done up the time-trial hill. The hill felt very tough in that workout, and some respect for the course had developed, explains Skjeldal</p>
<p>– I started the race hard and got a gap early on to the other skiers who were conserving their energy. They could possibly have been more daring and managed to hang on, he believes.</p>
<p>Regardless, he admits that he is in good shape.</p>
<p>– The camps have worked well for me and I have had been able put in solid training at home too. I have also been healthy and not had any injury problems. It’s fun to be training, says the national team skier.</p>
<p> – I would like to race most of the World Cup races this winter. My goal is to do well in them, but it’s going to be harder to qualify since we have reduced quotas now, says Skjeldal, who is first of all focusing on the Olympics in Torino.</p>
<p>– It will be a challenge with Olympics at altitude, but I like Italy, it’s a nice country. I have probably spent a whole year there when you add up all the camps and races I have done there over the years. It’s my second home country, laughs Kristen</p>
<p>Skjeldal would like to ski all the long races at the Olympics, but it’s the 50-kilometer freestyle that’s most tempting.</p>
<p>– It’s natural for me to believe that the 50-kilometer is within reach, but the competition is going to be tough since among others two (of the Worlds best) biathlon skiers have said that they are aiming for that race as well, says the five-time Norwegian 50-km champion, Kristen Skjeldal</p>
<p>For that reason he want to keep his options open regarding which distances he should focus on.</p>
<p>– I can’t give up anything in advance since I’m training equally hard for both techniques. The Olympics is stretched over a longer time-period than Worlds, which makes it easier to race more competitions, says Skjeldal</p>
<p>– The November and December races should give me an idea if certain distances and technique feels better than others, or if there are distances I won’t stand a chance in. We’ll see what happens, but I will up until then believe that I can do as well in a 15-km as I can in a 50-km, explains Skjeldal</p>
<p>He will up until then continue to train hard</p>
<p>– It’s getting more challenging when the weather turns wetter and colder and you at the same time is supposed to turn up the intensity another notch and still keep the hours up, says Kristen</p>
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