Norwegian skiing must regain positions where it has historically been

Thu, Aug  12, 2010 - By FIS

Hermod Björkestöl was re-elected in spring chairman of the cross-country committee of the Norwegians Ski Association. He is one of the most experienced homologation inspectors and course designers. He was involved in course planning of Liberec 2009 World Championships, 2011 Oslo, Sochi 2014 and others. FIS Cross-Country had a chance to talk to Mr. Bjoerkestoel.

FIS Cross-Country: Hermod, you were re-elected chairman of the cross-country committee in spring for another term. What are your goals?

Hermod Bjoerkestoel: Basically my goal is simple. I would like to see all Norwegians on cross-country skis. I wish to maintain and improve position of the sport on TV. Cross-Country skiing has become the most popular sport on Norwegian TV. There are five Olympic XC races in the Top 10 TV programs in terms of viewers. I also would like to recapture positions Norwegian skiing historically had and come back in fights for individual victories Last but not least it is important for us to be attractive for sponsors and maintain the financial support that we have today.

FIS Cross-Country: There has been a lot of criticism in Norway on especially men's distance. Was the criticism fair or do you think there is problem in Norwegian skiing?

HB: We have not been satisfied with the results in men's distance Cross Country skiing, so it was not only media who focused on that. Over the past 10 years there has been a discussion regarding Cross Country training. Two professors at the University in Trondheim stated that the best training for Cross Country was interval training. It was not necessary to train that much. New competition formats, more mass starts, were introduced. Many athletes believed that if you had a good sprint it was enough. Last fall we started discussions about "Finding best practice for Cross Country training". A postgraduate student at the University in Trondheim is in charge of this project, and we have already some findings where adjustments already have been introduced. Running in mountains and wet lands will be more dominant part of the training this summer and fall.

FIS Cross-Country: Many sports complain about that less and less kids and young people are active and that is more difficult to find real talents. Is it a problem in Norway as well?

HB: We are lucky to observe that many clubs reports register more and more kids are coming to our sport. Some clubs have to educate more trainers/instructors, and there are even clubs who have to say, sorry we do not have more places for new kids. At the 2010 FIS Congress in Turkey Norway was awarded for the best "Bring children to snow" program. I am happy about that.

FIS Cross-Country: Next year there are World Champs in Oslo. For sure Norwegian national team wants to collect as many medals as possible. How do you see the chances?

HB: I think we have good chances to be the best Cross Country nation in this WSC. Except for 2006 OWG we have been the best CC nation in the past championships.

FIS Cross-Country: The whole Nordic skiing world looks forward to Oslo to live special atmosphere. How big the event will be?

HB: The 2011 WSC in Holmenkollen, Oslo, will be a great folk's festival with an exciting atmosphere. We hope for more than 300.000 spectators to come. Different to Olympic Winter Games the FIS WSCs have developed in a positive way in terms of being a "Folks festival". In Olympics there have been focused on spectator expenses, and the number of spectators has been limited. This was the case for the 2010 Olympics and is now the case also for the 2014 Games.

FIS Cross-Country: You are involved in homologation process of Sochi 2014. How do you see the situation there?

HB: At Psekhako Ridge, where CC and Biathlon competitions will take place for the 2014 Sochi Games, the major challenge is terrain limitations. At the beginning of the planning only Cross-Country competitions should take place there, but access to the proposed Biathlon venue was very difficult. More space was made available at Psekhako Ridge, and the master plan for Psekhako now includes two separate venues, one for Biathlon and the other for Cross-Country. The way the work is organized requires closer follow up from the International Federation. Therefore from the FIS we are in close contact with the LOC and intensively communicate at different areas and levels.