Kjell-Erik Kristiansen to announce Cross Country Ski Races
Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, Vernon, B.C. December 8, 2005. Spectators at this weekend’s World Cup races at Sovereign Lake will hear the same voice announcing the races as at the Olympics in Torino, Italy next February. Forty five year old Norwegian Kjell-Erik Kristiansen has twice been voted “the World’s number one announcer†and he will be entertaining the crowd during the Sovereign Lake races.
“I really look forward to coming to Canada; it will be the 17th country I’ve announced races in, including China, Thailand and Japan, but my first time in Canadaâ€, said the world famous announcer.
Kristiansen was the main announcer for the Winter Olympics in Soldier Hollow, Utah, in 2002, where he announced cross country skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon. In the Torino Olympics he will announce cross country, Nordic combined and ski-jumping.
The multi-talented Norwegian is a well-known TV commentator in Norway, working mostly for the pan-European channel Eurosport. Kristiansen has also been commentator for the Tour de France cycling races ten times and has also done NHL hockey on television.
“Being the announcer at the venue is giving moreâ€, he observed. “You are so close to your audience and you get an immediate reaction to what you are doing.â€
At the Canadian World Cup races in Vernon, British Columbia and Canmore, Alberta, Kristiansen will be working with Taylor Robbins from Salt Lake City, who was the field talent at Soldier Hollow during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Robbins will act as stadium producer as well.
