Nordic Roundup: Soldier Hollow, World Cups postponed, Schmitt benched

Nordic Roundup: Soldier Hollow, World Cups postponed, Schmitt benchedA year ago, Andy Newell “won” an inaugural 100-meter sprint as he tried to set a world record for the distance at Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic cross-country skiing venue. This time around, in a race held Wednesday morning in a snowstorm, the competition had a name — the US100 — and Newell was upended by Tim Weston, a New Yorker who skis out of the Maine Winter Sports Center.

The Guinness folks, who were petitioned to recognize Newell’s 12.76-second time as a world record for 100 meters, rejected the petition. U.S. nordic chief Luke Bodensteiner said there probably won’t be any submission of Weston’s 12.71-second time for the second race. A storm, which hit the region Tuesday, dumped about seven inches of snow and continued through today’s racing, but it didn’t seem to slow Weston. Newell was second (12.98) with Torin Koos in third place (13.30). Top woman was Kikkan Randall, who produced a 14.68 time with Kate Whitcomb runnerup (14.70).

“We had 19 skiers and they went according to number,” Bodensteiner said, “and once everyone went, they could go back and try again. Surprisingly, the new snow didn’t have that much effect because the snow was pretty fast.” He said the race wouldn’t be recognized as a national championship but its natural appeal “means we’ll do it every year. It’s a lot of fun it’s an obvious event to hold.”

Ramsau in nordic combined future?

FIS officials are trying to relocate World Cup nordic combined events scheduled in Italy’s Val di Fiemme to Ramsau, Austria…or anywhere else.

Although cross-country World Cup races are scheduled this weekend at Lago di Tesero in Val di Fiemme, poor snow at the jumping hill in Predazzo forced organizers to scrub the nordic combined events. As the second weekend of combined competition was concluding in Trondheim, Norway, with American Johnny Spillane in third place and Todd Lodwick in fifth , officials were trying to salvage the third weekend of the season, perhaps by dropping it back a week — to Dec. 18-19…anywhere.

“Uli [Wehling, FIS director of competition for combined] said they’re trying to shift the events to Ramsau for the 18th and 19th,” said U.S. Coach Bard Elden. If something isn’t decided by Friday, he said, the Yanks will fly home for the holidays. Lodwick stands third in the World Cup points after four events, Spillane is fourth.

Schmitt bounced from World Cup squad

German Coach Peter Rohwein, calling his performance so far “ridiculous,” has dropped two-time World Cup champion and former world champ Martin Scmitt from the World Cup circuit, according to a story at eurosport.com. “We have to get to a point where Martin regains his normal form and no longer embarrasses himself,” Rohwein said.

Schmitt dominated the sport in 1999 and again in ’00 — before Pole Adam Malysz took over and Schmitt began to battle knee problems. He’s never returned to anything near his form of four years ago but said during the summer, after changing skis and with Rohwein taking over the German team, Schmitt felt he was on the verge of a return to podium contention. It hasn’t happened yet while Finn Janne Ahonen, the defending World Cup champion, has swept all four competitions. In those four events, Schmitt has been 40th, 40th and 44th — and failed to qualify Sunday for the fourth meet in Trondheim, Norway.

Scott back at Soldier Hollow

It took Canadian Beckie Scott more than two years to finally get the gold medal she won at the 2002 Olympics at Soldier Hollow, Utah. This week, Scott — who is taking a pass on the opening month of the World Cup season — returns to the Olympic trails as cross-country’s SuperTour resumes.

The SuperTour will make two stops at Soldier Hollow this season with classic technique races on the first weekend (5-kilometer for women, 10km for men Saturday and sprints Sunday), a midweek pursuit Dec. 15, and freestyle races Dec. 18-19. The second visit takes place Jan. 3-10 when the U.S. championships roll back into town; they last were held at Soldier Hollow in 2000 and have been staged by the Chisholm Ski Club in Rumford, Maine, for the past two seasons with blockbuster fields; the U.S. record was set at 453 racers last Jan. 5, then bumped to 478 the next day.

In a related development, Scott’s running mate, Sara Renner was seventh Saturday in a city sprint in Bern, Switzerland. Renner is married to Canadian alpine racer Thomas Grandi.