For the inquisitive mind of a true cross-country sking fan of ski World Cup in Canmore Canada brought a lot to thing about. It was the last World Cup before Olympics in Vancouver. Even though we did not see rest of the start filed chasing Lukas Bauer and Petter Northug but it was a thrilling show. Swiss national team are getting in pretty good shape. We have not seen "Super Dario" for a long time but he performed very well yesterday. Swedish squad are aiming high as well and yesterda's performance especially on ladi's side is very promising towards Olympics.
We should, however, draw our attention to two heroes of last week's Junior & U23 Nordic Championships in Notschrei, Germany. Peter Sedov and Ole-Marius Bach.
Peter exploded last season when he won 3 golds at the Junior World Champs in Praz de Lys Sommend, France. Right after he got an invitation for the World Cup in Lahti where he stormed to 10th place in 15 km Free technique. That it was enough to get a place in the Olympic team of Russia. Three medals from Hintertzarten/Notschrei only proved good choice of Russian coaches. On the other hand this year's Sedov at the Junior World Champs was certainly good but was far from absolute dominator of last year.
Ole-Marius' performance was outstanding. While still a junior he took 3rd place over 30 km Pursuit at Norwegian Championships in Vind/Gjoevik. Until yesterday he was not racing on a World Cup level, although he is 2 years older than Sedov. In Hinterzarten Bach won U23 sprint and claimed silver medal in 30 km Pursuit.
All Norwegian specialists say with same voice Bach has bright future and his skating technique is perfect. "We want to reward Bach for his hard work and performance, for his talent and acknowledge his successes at the U23 World Champs. He has every opportunity to develop. We believe in him very much" said Vidar Lofhus, coordinator of the Norway's reserve team.
As we can see, Norway have not come to the Olympic Games in Vancouver, but they are already thinking about the future, not forgetting their youth racers. Just 4 years in Torinu Northug was not so brilliant and now the whole world admires Petter Northug. Question for upcoming Olympics does not stand how many medals Northug can win but how many he can actually loose. After all almost everyone acknowledges that Petter has a chance to capture all six gold medals.
Two countries - the two approaches. Sedov vs. Bach - 1 st round.
Contributed by: skirun.ru
