When Anna Olsson of Sweden was a little girl, her role model was her older sister. When she gave ski racing a try, Anna wasn't far behind, despite being four years younger. The rest--as they say-- is history. Olsson went on to have an international career on the Swedish cross country ski team spanning more than 13 seasons. The skier whose records include Olympic gold, World Championship silver, two world cup wins and 16 top-three placings announced her retirement yesterday.

Olsson told reporters of her upcoming plans. "First of all, I am going to enjoy a calm spring and summer. I look forward to being at home and having time to fuss with things that I have longed to do. This autumn I plan to lecture on mental training. It's something I have had to work extra hard with the times I was injured. When you are a top skier, your whole world turns around cross country skiing. If you are then injured, it seems as if the whole word was destroyed. Together with my mental health counselor, I worked a lot with finding the puzzle of life and self confidence. It is important to feel comfortable," she said.

In other nordic news, the Spar Cup, which is a series of 13 events in Norway, and is the highest level of domestic skiing wrapped up in Voss, Norway on April 9th. 84 women and 127 men took part in the Spar Cup this winter, showcasing up-and-coming talent.

Petter Eliassen won the men's cup with 616 points, while Kristian Tettli Rennemo was the runner-up with 540 points.

The women's overall winner is a name we’re all getting familiar with, the talented Ingvild Flugstad Ostberg, who took the crown with 598 points. Second place overall went to Marte Elden with 492 points.

By Peter Graves