Sport News
The fight for the yellow bib is on in Lillehammer
With two Individual Gundersen competitions at the Norwegian venue of Lillehammer, the fight for the yellow World Cup leader bib is now on in earnest this upcoming weekend. After Johannes Rydzek’s initial triumph in Ruka, title defender Eric Frenzel, Nordic Combined superstar Jason Lamy Chappuis and Magnus Moan, who returns after being sick last weekend, will be out for blood this weekend when 200 individual World Cup points are given out.
Due to a tightly packed program, athletes and fans alike will have to be alert and on top of their games from early in the morning but as we are talking about the ultimate winter sport athletes and toughest men on skis, the challenge only adds to the thrill of the game.
So which athletes should be put on the to-watch-list for the competitions on the HS 138 Lysgaardsbakken and the race track at the Olympic Birkebeineren Ski Stadium? Olympic Champion Joergen Graabak definitely is one athlete carving out a spot on the list of probable winners for himself after setting the fastest times on the track two times in a row in Ruka. Graabak is still chasing his first individual World Cup victory and what better place to win than in a home competition with a Norwegian audience, maybe even beating his favourite opponent Rydzek out for the yellow bib.
Also always dangerous is Japan’s Akito Watabe who claimed a podium spot in Lillehammer on both days last year and ranked just off the podium as fourth last weekend. After his sickness last weekend, Norwegian veteran Magnus Moan is the wildcard among the athletes while teammate and local hero Mikko Kokslien will be out for damage repair and a great show for the home crowd after a bad start into the season. After tasting the podium again last weekend, Bernhard Gruber from Austria and Czech Republic’s Miroslav Dvorak will be wanting to prove that their great performances were no one-hit-wonders.
The list of favourites is long and could be extended even further and promises an exciting, nail-biting, Nordic Combined weekend full of surprises coming up… just the way we like it!
Program (local times! CET) changes in italics
Friday, 05.12.
09:00 Official training cross-country
12:00 Official training HS 138, two rounds
18:30 Provisional Competition Round/Qualification
Saturday, 06.12.
08:00 Trial Round HS 138
09:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 138
11:55 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Sunday, 07.12.
07:45 Trial Round HS 138
09:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 138
13:30 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Timetable subject to change!
Quick Facts:
HILL
Lysgaardsbakken
HS 138
TRACK
Birkebeineren Skistadion
2.5 km loop
Total climb: 100 metres
Maximum climb: 31 metres
Height Difference: 48 metres
LAST YEAR’S PODIUM
IG: 1. Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA), 2. Akito Watabe (JPN) 3. Mikko Kokslien (NOR)
IG: 1. Eric Frenzel (GER), 2. Magnus Krog (NOR), 3. Akito Watabe (JPN)
Due to a tightly packed program, athletes and fans alike will have to be alert and on top of their games from early in the morning but as we are talking about the ultimate winter sport athletes and toughest men on skis, the challenge only adds to the thrill of the game.
So which athletes should be put on the to-watch-list for the competitions on the HS 138 Lysgaardsbakken and the race track at the Olympic Birkebeineren Ski Stadium? Olympic Champion Joergen Graabak definitely is one athlete carving out a spot on the list of probable winners for himself after setting the fastest times on the track two times in a row in Ruka. Graabak is still chasing his first individual World Cup victory and what better place to win than in a home competition with a Norwegian audience, maybe even beating his favourite opponent Rydzek out for the yellow bib.
Also always dangerous is Japan’s Akito Watabe who claimed a podium spot in Lillehammer on both days last year and ranked just off the podium as fourth last weekend. After his sickness last weekend, Norwegian veteran Magnus Moan is the wildcard among the athletes while teammate and local hero Mikko Kokslien will be out for damage repair and a great show for the home crowd after a bad start into the season. After tasting the podium again last weekend, Bernhard Gruber from Austria and Czech Republic’s Miroslav Dvorak will be wanting to prove that their great performances were no one-hit-wonders.
The list of favourites is long and could be extended even further and promises an exciting, nail-biting, Nordic Combined weekend full of surprises coming up… just the way we like it!
Program (local times! CET) changes in italics
Friday, 05.12.
09:00 Official training cross-country
12:00 Official training HS 138, two rounds
18:30 Provisional Competition Round/Qualification
Saturday, 06.12.
08:00 Trial Round HS 138
09:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 138
11:55 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Sunday, 07.12.
07:45 Trial Round HS 138
09:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 138
13:30 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Timetable subject to change!
Quick Facts:
HILL
Lysgaardsbakken
HS 138
TRACK
Birkebeineren Skistadion
2.5 km loop
Total climb: 100 metres
Maximum climb: 31 metres
Height Difference: 48 metres
LAST YEAR’S PODIUM
IG: 1. Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA), 2. Akito Watabe (JPN) 3. Mikko Kokslien (NOR)
IG: 1. Eric Frenzel (GER), 2. Magnus Krog (NOR), 3. Akito Watabe (JPN)
Source: fis-ski.com
