Nordic Roundup: Checking in with Alsgaard, Schmitt and the American team

Nordic Roundup: Checking in with Alsgaard, Schmitt and the American teamWhile the cross-country World Cup schedule shifting into every-weekend racing, former Norwegian star Thomas Alsgaard is visiting several spots in the United States, recounting his career and maybe selling some Madshus Skis, or something else for Alpina Sports. He was in Portland, Maine, then observed Dartmouth College and Ford Sayre kids in training before a 90-minute chat; next came Glens Falls, New York, and finally West Yellowstone, Montana, as the SuperTour gets underway over Thanksgiving Weekend.

Autographs, photos, a gentle nudge here, a firm word there…all designed to explain how he got started early (winning his first race at just three) and a tight focus on his training until he retired after the 2003 season. He won a World Cup title and was arguably the premier skater of his time – but Alsgaard, 32, may have carved his name in nordic stone with his stirring relay anchor legs that brought Norway Olympic gold in 1998 and again at Soldier Hollow.

There’s no simmering urge to race again, said Alsgaard, who had made sounds about pulling it over for two years. “It’s not very motivating to race now. I compare myself to what I have done earlier, so it is just bad feelings,” he conceded.

Americans, he said, too often seem to focus on the miniscule in their training and racing, and that can hurt them. For one thing, he said, he never wore a heart-rate monitor, which would provide information he didn’t want. “It doesn’t matter if you have a 40-degree angle of your elbow or 20 degrees of angle,” he told Ski Racing, “if you don’t have the endurance to make it through a 10-kilometre loop. The big details count, and the whole picture…and the feelings.”

The most important element of his speech, he said, was the rundown of four principles which his father, a policeman who was never a ski racer, gave him as a youngster. The four: Honesty (“Don’t be afraid to tell yourself it’s just not good enough”), Patience (being good at a young age is important “but build your base for what is to come later”), Evaluation (don’t miss a day in which you assess yourself, your equipment and anything else in your skiing), and Well-being (keep your sport “joyful, interesting and motivating”).

Jumpers, combiners ready to start

The last skiing World Cup schedule is set to get underway this weekend as ski jumping and nordic combined open in Kuusamo, Finland. Five U.S. skiers will be competing. In addition, the cross-country brigade will be competing for its third weekend.

“We’re resting before the storm,” U.S. combined Coach Bard Elden said Tuesday night after the Yanks completed their first day of jumping on Kuusamo’s HS142 large hill. Te sub-zero cold [-20 C., -4 F. Tuesday] was expected to moderate a bit by the weekend, he said.

Johnny Spillane, the reigning sprint world champion, and Todd Lodwick, who won the Summer Grand Prix title, each laid down the longest jumps of their career in training – 146 meters for Spillane, 143m for Lodwick. “Oh, y’know, Johnny – small hills aren’t his favorite, so he didn’t do too well in Rovaniemi,” Lodwick told Ski Racing, “but when we got to this hill, he’s ready to roll again.”

In jumping, defending champion Janne Ahonen is on the hotseat in jumping-crazy Finland. The poker-faced Finn is expected to face major competition from teammates Tami Kiuru and Mattio Hautamaeki; Poland’s Adam Malysz, the three-time World Cup champ who was second in both meets last year in Kuusamo; Austria’s Martin Hoellwarth; Norwegians Roar Ljoekelsoey, Sigurd Pettersen and Bjoern Einar Romoeren; and, among others, Noriaki Kasai of Japan.

Schmitt switches skis, coaches, attitude

Germany’s Martin Schmitt ruled ski jumping from the 1999 World Championships until the Olympic season when Adam Malysz of Poland reappeared from the mists into which he disappeared three years earlier. Malysz went on to win three straight World Cup titles and both gold medals at the 2003 World Championships before yielding a year ago to Janne Ahonen of Finland. Now, Schmitt may be on the verge of a comeback, according to a story on Eurosport .

Troubled by tendonitis and other knee ailments over the last couple of seasons, Schmitt nearly went into free-fall. He no longer was a factor. The only question seemed to be how long he would continue to jump. However, Schmitt — who still just 26 — isn’t ready to say auf wiedersehn. He changed from Rossignol to Fischer skis; and Germany has changed its jumping head coach from Wolfgang Steiert to Peter Rohwein. Steiert has become Schmitt’s personal coach.

“My goal is to get a place back in the top 10,” Schmitt said. That would seem to be a reasonable first step back. His preseason training “went pretty well … We laid the foundation for a long winter with the World Championships as the big highlight.”