Opinion

Editor's Note: The following does not necessarily represent the views of FasterSkier.com, its editors, or sponsors. We fully support open dialogue on the issues raised in the following article. Please feel free to use the comments section to express your views. The United States Ski Team’s cross country program is broken, has been for about 25 years, and it’s time it tried a different approach. It’s doubtful, especially with the present program, the Ski Team...

It's a false claim that taking performance-enhancing drugs is simply 'the way it is,' Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses writes. He says a hard-core training regimen is the secret to his success. By Edwin Moses, Special to The Los Angeles Times June 12, 2007 Like the parabolic mirror that ignites the flame in Olympia every two years, the avenging spirit of sport recently has focused its heat upon yellow jerseys and ski boots. Now I...

Note: The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of Rob Whitney and Ian Case. They do not neccessarily reflect the view of Fasterskier.com as an entity. Enjoy! Swedish Skidsport.com has started a petition in an attempt to eliminate the mass start in pursuit and other long races that the World Cup has been favoring the last few years. Over 1000 fans in Sapporo have signed a petition with hundreds more signing on every...

Coach Jarmo Risk is banned for life from international competitions following the Finish team’s doping scandal in the 2001 Lahti Worlds. He is now the coach for World Cup leader Virpi Kuitunen. The Finnish head coach Magnar Dalen has no problem handling the dilemma. – Jarmo Riski was not the main source for the doping scandal in Lahti, said Dalen to Skidsport on Tuesday. Magnar Dalen was the head coach for Sweden when it was...

Norwegian national team skier Ella Gjœmle was sick at the start of Tour de Ski, but followed all the races on TV and wrote articles for Norwegian Langrenn.com after each race. She believes the Tour will be even more important next year since next season is without a major championship.

The United States Ski and Snowboard Association recently announced the Cross-country National Team selection for 2006 – 2007. Season preparation for the new Team is well under way and training opportunities have been extended to athletes outside the Team as well. We have observed a number of comments from the skiing community about the Team selection on this web site. The large batch of those comments deserves no further discussion; what they lack in substance...

Editor's Note: This is a reprint of one of our most popular articles last fall. We want our new FasterSkier.com readers to be as prepared as our old ones for those less-than-stellar race days. As you prepare for the new season, you should brush up on your excuses as well. Not that you'll ever need them, of course…. “I need to re-string my racquet, “I was tired from football practice”, “I couldn’t concentrate”, I’m new...

Last weekend we saw the first ever North American World Cup win since Pierre Harvey won in 1987. It was also the first time ever two North Americans were on the podium together in the same race. It was also the first time ever a North American captured first and second place during the same weekend’s World Cup event. In addition to Beckie Scott and Sara Renner’s podiums, Sandra Crawford was 10th in the sprint....

Last week we posted an article on FasterSkier.com called Historical Statistics: Top North American Male World Cup Skiers

Fasterskier.com Guest Editorial by Mike Trecker Fast, furious and freezing. What an amazing couple of weeks it has been in Alaska following the trials and tribulations of those competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. For most of those trying out, it is just an accomplishment getting to this point. They have trained diligently through the summer months while scrambling to put together something that resembles sponsorship, scraped enough funding together to secure...

Most nations have an all-time best list of their retired cross country skiers. In Sweden and Norway they call them skikings. Here is the first attempt to create a North American top-ten of all times list based upon top-20 World Cup results. We are starting with men. Rule #1: Active skiers will be eligible for the list when they retire. It’s hard to find complete statistics, so bear with us and help correct errors since...

We want to see US and Canadian Cross Country skiers live on television from the Olympics in Turin, Italy! Cross country skiers, stand up for your sport, email all your cross skiing friends and have them vote for xc skiing. It only takes two seconds. Cross country skiing had only 3% and less than 300 votes last week when Fasterskier.com posted the article

Here's a link to an interesting article in the Anchorage Daily News, written by Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center head coach Jim Galanes. The article is written in response to a previous ADN article about the fact that no Alaskans were named to the US Ski Team for 2005. The article touches on many issues of development that apply to all cross country ski communities. Flat futures of local skiers can be turned around...

Dear FasterSkier.com readers, FasterSkier.com fully supports and recommends the use of helmets while rollerskiing. We have, over the years, posted a number of safety related articles encouraging helmet use and other safety precautions while training and especially while rollerskiing. As coaches, we normally require that the athletes we are working with wear helmets while rollerskiing. However, we sometimes use photos where the athletes have choosen to not use helmets. These athletes are adults and they...

I have enjoyed the recent discussion on the state of the US Cross-Country Ski Team and the future possibilities for improving international results. Thinking about the responses, from all over and fired up, I hope the Ski Team administration can draw some wise and very logical conclusions. The first would be that attempts to centralize the governance, education and training of cross-country skiing in this country have not, and cannot, work. There are two reasons...

Norway was the best nation at Worlds, however Sigmund Hov Moen points to the fact that Worlds was the exception for Norwegian distance skiers last season. They peaked at the right moment, but Worlds was way above how they performed in the regular World Cup. A new Daehlie has not yet emerged. Please note that these comments were excerpted from a long article by Moen about the status of Norwegian skiers age 14 to 19....

I have read numerous comments by other contributors regarding organizational management and ah yes money. It has been alluded to but not addressed completely. Let's not dance around this issue like it's not part of the problem because it is. In review of the relatively small revenue requirements (we're talking millions in the single digits) needed to fund a successful team campaign overseas, I am surprised by the the lack of professional organization focused on...

Thanks to everybody contributing to the recent debate on the status of US cross-country skiing. The articles gave a good status report and frank opinions, and best of all a host of ideas to explore for the road ahead. There are a lot of positive aspects of US skiing. We have the best gene pool in the world and we are the wealthiest nation on earth. We have a lot of good skiers of all...

It’s common for sports commentators to break down important stats or concepts for the audience. Such as Adam Vinatieri’s field goal percentage from 34 yards into a headwind when it’s snowing during an afternoon away game. Our sporting culture is consumed by an analytical obsession and the purpose of this is not merely trivial. It’s to gain a richer understanding of what’s going on, because sports are more entertaining when they’re meaningful. It’s been interesting,...