FIS Nordic Junior and U23 Worlds start today

Thu, Jan  29, 2009 - By FIS

The countdown for the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships and U-23 Cross-Country World Championships over: today, the most important competitions for the next generation of top cross-country skiers will begin in France, on the lovely high plateau of Praz de Lys in Haute Savoie.

Praz de Lys is well-prepared to host the 380 young Cross-Country athletes from 33 nations. About 1 m of snow is waiting on the highlands where some nations such as Russia have been there training for some time.

The FIS U-23 Cross-Country World Championships kick off today with interval start races over 10km (ladies) and 15 km (men) in free technique followed by the pursuit races on Saturday, 31st January. The U-23 event will conclude on Sunday 1st February with sprint competitions in classical technique together with the Juniors, who get going with this event.

The FIS Junior World Championships will continue on 3rd February with the pursuit races over 5 km + 5 km (ladies) and 10 km + 10 km (men). The interval start competitions in free technique over 5 km (ladies) and 10 km (men) are on the schedule on 5th February. The program of the FIS Junior World Championships will conclude with the traditional relay races for both genders on 6th February. For more information, click here.

The FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined will be held almost concurrently in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. The official opening will take place on the evening of 4th February with the first competitions held on 5th February with the men’s individual Ski Jumping (HS 100) and the Nordic Combined individual event with one round of jumping and 5km cross-country race. Both the ladies’ individual and men’s Ski Jumping team competition are scheduled for 6th February while Nordic Combined team and the second individual competition are held on the weekend of 7th-8th February.

Štrbské Pleso last organized the Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in 2000, at that time with all three disciplines and it shared the responsibility for the event in 1990 as Les Saisies (FRA) staged the Cross-Country events with Štrbské Pleso carrying out the Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping events as this year.