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Smiles couldn't have been brighter this week as a cold front blasted out of the Pacific and hit Olympic host Nagano head on. After months of battling the FIS about the length of its Downhill trail and fighting the Pre-Olympic blues on all fronts, it was nice to get some good news. The menus for Olympic athletes chompin' down in the cafeteria were issued, too. If nordic skiers in search of a carbo fix wander down to the Canteen, they are likely to be greeted by goodies from the Nagano Prefecture which include "soba" noodles, "nozawana" pickles and the spicy Korean delight, kimchi. OK, relax, it's a free country, they'll have Western-style food, too. Organizers will even throw in the chance to make soba noodles or race cakes. Now the nordic skiers are sure to be happy. For nordic fans, the World Cup season has opened in Norway and that, too, has given us media types a first peek at what we might expect from Nagano in February. Things couldn't have started better for Norwegian cross-country skiing superstar Bjorn Daehlie. The 29-year-old skier, who last season passed Gunde Svan's record, has become the winningest XC racer of all time. Last year at the Nordic World's in Trondheim, Norway, Daehlie won three Gold medals, and he started this season off well by winning the 30km classical event in Beitostolen. Daehlie, who will retire at the end of this season, has won five World Cup crowns in seven seasons, and can win in either technique. The only possible weak spot for the Norwegian is the 50km race. By contrast, the distance king is likely to be Finnish strongman Mika Myllyla, the 1997 World 50km Champ. Last year, Myllyla became the first Finnish man to hold the prestigious title of 50 km king since 1970. The great rivalry in men's racing also includes the impressive Kazakh skier, Vladimir Smirnov, who now lives in Sweden. Vlad, always a crowd favorite, has sputtered mightily since Thunder Bay's World Nordic Championships where he won three Gold medals. Like Daehlie, Smirnov plans to hang up the boards following this season, and he'd like to go out with some fireworks, especially in the classic events. Other nordic men to watch are the Russian's ageless star Alexei Prokurov, improving Swedish ace Henrik Forsberg, Italians Fauner and Valbusa and the vast talent of the Norwegian men. The Norges are stacked to the gills with potential medalists including Thomas Alsgard — the surprise winner of the '94 Winter Olympics' freestyle 30km race. Factor in men of iron like Erling Jevne, Sture Sivertsen and improving Anders Eide and Norway looks like it has a lock on the glorious men's relay gold. A medal that they lost in Lillehammer by four-hundredths of a second to the Italians in perhaps the most memorable men's relay in history.
The Women
The Russian juggernaut also features Larissa Lazhutina, who won the first World Cup of the season along with Nina Gavriljuk, Olga Danilova and, most likely, newcomer Julia Tchepoalova. They could sweep the medals in any race here. Remember that the Russians will no longer have the services of the winner of the women's 15km race at last seasons World Championships, Ljubov Egorov, who was stripped of her medal (it was given to Vaelbe) for using the banned substance Bromantan. She's been banned by the FIS until the 2001 season. Should the Russians falter — and that's unlikely — the Italians are in standby mode. Belmondo and DiCenta spark Squadra Italia, and there's battle hardened Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic also waiting in the wings. Also due for some Olympic fireworks are the tough Norwegian women. There's Trude Dybendahl-Hartz (married to a former Middlebury College athlete), Marit Mikkelsplass and classical specialist Bente Martinsen, daughter of
The USA Women's team is led by Alaska's Nina Kemppel, who will be skiing in her third Olympics, along with likely Olympic Team candidates Vermonter Kerrin Petty — who lives most of the year in Sweden, and perhaps Laura Wilson. USA Head XC coach Gordon Lange expects to bring a smaller than usual team to Nagano and focus on improved performance.
Nordic Combined
Lodwick has become one of his sport's top flyers and his running is following form. In Finland, in the opening event of the season, the racing was furious and the winner is the all-around favorite for NC Gold, Finnish teen Samppa Lajunen, who won last year's World Cup honors. Austria's Mario Stecher could medal or any of a trio of Norwegians with names like Bjarte Engen Vik, Halldor Skard or Knute Tore Apeland. The host country, Japan, has one great combiner in World Champ Kenji Ogiwara. USA Combined coach, Colorado's Tom Steitz, is one of the sport's most well-prepared and seasoned coaches; he has his team on the brink of greatness. Hometown Steamboat Springs rolls out the welcome mat to the Combined World Cup, December 11-14, in what is always a great show.
Ski Jumping Watch for the gusts on the jumps of Hakuba to carry flyer Masahiko Harada with the wind. He won the K-120 World Title last year and he's backed by jumpers like Hiroya Saitoh, Kazuyoshi Funaki and Takanobu Okabe. Finnish star Janne Ahonen, who won the 90m title, is ready along with teamates Soininen and Nikkola. Germany's Dieter Thoma is a medal threat as is 17-year-old Primoz Pteterka of Slovakia. A major question mark is where will Andreas "Goldi" Goldberger land? Austria's talent wunderkind, and a former Austria Athlete of the Year, was given the boot by the OSV (Austrian Ski Association) when he was charged with using cocaine at a Vienna disco. Since then, Goldi has been searching for a country that will allow him to jump, since he is no longer allowed to compete for Austria. In what has turned from sadness and drama to heartache and farce, Goldi has been looking for a Team to call his own. Possible candidates include the island nation of Grenada, San Marino or one of the Republics of the former Yugoslavia. For most in Austria this is unthinkable, but at press time, the elusive search for a team looking for a world class jumper goes on. Since no US jumpers went to Trondheim for last year's World Championships, medals are unlikely. The team is working hard and has had good pre-season training. One likely member is Colorado fly-boy Randy Weber, who was on the 1994 Olympic team, when he was but 16 years of age. Nagano officials have built state-of-the-art jumping hills that are side by side, but a lack of trees could mean problems should the winds gust. Competitions could be run in the morning hours if winds become problematic at Hakuba. When the Winter Olympics open from February 7-22 in Nagano, it will be a grand spectacle, great racing, and a dream come true for the organizers who have worked hard to prepare a hearty welcome. CBS Sports will feature 120 hours of programming, while Turner Sports, with host Jim Lampley, will serve up another 50 hours of coverage. Finally, after this visit to Japan, the Winter Games will return to the USA for the fourth time, as Salt Lake hosts the first Winter Games of the 21st Century. — Peter Graves, Mountain Zone Correspondent Peter Graves is a Vermont native and former US Ski Team coach. He has covered four Olympics: including working for ABC Sports in 1980 in Lake Placid. He has announced every cross-country World Cup ever held in the USA and in Summer reports on Mt. Biking for ESPN and The Mountain Zone.
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