“Yes, we love this country,
as it rises forth.” (Norwegian National Anthem)

The first two lines (and, of course, the remaining) of the Norwegian national anthem have been played extensively in sports stadiums worldwide. Cross-country skiing and biathlon’s biggest arenas are no exception – rather, the opposite.

In the last season, the Norwegian dominance, especially on the men’s side, was almost total.

In the World Cup in cross-country skiing and biathlon, there were Norwegians in the top five positions.

Four Norwegian men were at the top of Ski Classics, and nine Norwegian men were among the top eleven in the overall standings.

On the women’s side, there was a greater geographical spread of top nations; there was “only” one Norwegian top-10 in the overall World Cup (Heidi Weng was eighth); in the biathlon, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was third in the overall cup (in addition, Karoline Offigstad Knotten was ninth).

In Ski Classics, two Norwegians were on the overall podium: third-place Magni Smedås and Emilie Fleten, this winter’s big winner in long-distance skiing.

What about a longer perspective? Well, even then, there is excellent Norwegian dominance.

In the nine years before the winter that has just ended, there were nineteen Norwegian overall victories in the World Cup in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Norwegian men have claimed 31 of the 42 podium places in the Ski Classics.

The “exception” to the Norwegian dominance has been the women’s Ski Classics, where, the last eight seasons, there have been Swedish winners overall (Britta Johansson Norgren, Lina Korsgren, and Ida Dahl), but this winter, it was a Norwegian victory.

The number of skiers in the top ten shows that Sweden’s women are the best in Ski Classics (57 compared to Norway’s 40). In women’s biathlon, Germany is the best with 20 top-10 places in the last decade, Norway has eleven, and France and Italy have more top-10 skiers than Norway. On the other ‘side,’ Norway is the most successful (in women’s and men’s cross-country skiing, men’s biathlon, and men’s Ski Classics).

So where is the dominance most remarkable?

In men’s cross-country skiing, the Norwegian men have claimed 50 of the 100 top 10 places available in the last ten years. And it could have been even more than 50; this is because the Norwegian skiers did not compete particularly diligently during the “worst Covid season” in 2020/2021. Then, instead, there was great Russian dominance, with six skiers in the top ten.

But what is the reason for this considerable dominance?

Tradition is one thing. History is another. Many people are willing to train hard and put in the effort, which is a third. And then there is the reach.

At the Norwegian women’s 5km cross-country skiing championships last winter, 348 skiers started. On the men’s side, 481 athletes crossed the finish line in the 10km race.

For Sweden, the corresponding figures (where women and men raced 10 kilometers) were 68 women and 112 men.

The difference in the number of seniors in national championships is even greater in percentage terms in biathlon. At the Norwegian championships, 163 men and 148 women finished in the sprint. In Sweden, there were 28 men and 23 women.

Former national team skier in both cross-country skiing and biathlon Anna-Karin Strömstedt (now an expert on Viaplay) has lived in Norway for several years, and she sees several reasons why Norway has dominated cross-country skiing in the long term:

“I think the training of elite skiers from different countries is relatively similar. However, one difference in Norway is that it has such a huge reach. There are so many people who start in their junior years. This means that if skiers drop out on the Norwegian side, it is not visible in the same way as in Sweden, where there are so many fewer elite,” says Strömstedt.

Are you interested in traditional cross-country skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.

Original article from Langd.se