Washingtonpost.com

How It Plays 1998 Golds Nuts & Bolts

History Schedule Outlook

Looking Back at Nagano Gold Medalists

1998 golds: Men: 10km (Bjorn Daehlie, Norway, 27:24.5); 30km pursuit (Thomas Alsgaard, Norway, 1:07:01.7); 30km (Mika Myllylae, Finland, 1:33:55.8) 50km (Bjorn Daehlie, Norway, 2:05:08.2); 4x10km relay (Norway, 1:40:55.7). Women: 5km (Larissa Lazutina, Russia, 17:37.9); 15km pursuit (Larissa Lazutina, Russia, 46:06.9); 15km classical (Olga Danilova, Russia) 46:55.4; 30km (Julija Tchepalova, Russia, 1:22:01.5); 4x5km relay (Russia, 55:13.5).

Nuts & Bolts: Cross-country skiing requires technique and physical endurance in order for skiers to complete long distances on rolling terrain. In classical competition, the skis must remain parallel on flat terrain. For uphills, a diagonal stride is used with skis set apart. The free technique permits all stride varieties, and is therefore a faster and more strenuous event. "Skating" (pushing off diagonally from the inside edge of the weight-bearing ski), is the most common technique used in the free competitions.

In general, cross-country skis are lighter and more narrow than those used in Alpine events. The skis used in free technique competitions are shorter than those used in classical competitions, while the poles are longer.

The men's races consist of a 10, 15, 30 and 50 kilometer events, plus a 40km relay, while the women compete in 5, 10, 15 and 30 kilometer races, with a 20km relay. For individual races, skiers usually start at 30-second intervals, while competitors in the first leg of the relay races all start together. In the pursuit races, the results of the first event (men's 10km and women's 5km classical) determine the starting order for the second race (men's 15km and women's 10km free). The first skier to cross the finish line in the second race is the overall winner.

History: Despite the fact that cross-country skiing was used as a mode of transportation in northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries for thousands of years, it has only been in the past century that skiing has become a source of recreation and sport. Scandinavian immigrants introduced cross-country skiing to the United States, where it quickly became popular in northern New England and the upper Midwest. Its popularity continued to spread, and in 1904, the first official national championship was held in Ishpeming, Mich., which is now the home of the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum. A year later, the National Ski Association, or what is now known as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association was formed. The International Ski Federation was formed in 1924 in time for the first Olympic Winter Games held at Chamonix, France. While women were competing in the Alpine events, they did not take part in cross-country until 1952. It wasn't until 1967 that 13-year-old Alison Owen became the first American female to participate in a national cross-country championship, when she competed in a junior boys' race.

Schedule
Date	Event	Time (ET)
Saturday, Feb. 9	Women’s 15km Freestyle Men’s 30km Freestyle	11 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 12	Women’s 10km Classical Men’s 15km Classical	11 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 14	10km Classical Men’s 10km Freestyle (pursuit start)	11 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 15	Women’s 5km Classical Women’s 5km Freestyle (pursuit start)	11 a.m
Sunday, Feb. 17	Men’s 4X10km Relay	11 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 19	Women’s 1.5km Sprint, Free Men’s 1.5km Sprint, Free	11 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 21	Women’s 4X5km Relay	1 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23	Men’s 50km Classical	11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24	Women’s 30km Classical	11 a.m.

Outlook: Men —After finishing 10th in his race in Nagano, Sweden’s Per Elofsson is primed for greatness at these games. The 2001 world champion could win five medals and challenge the sport’s Olympic record of three golds. Sweden won just one medal in 1998, a silver.

Women — With the 1.5K sprints a new event, there should be a good duel between Katerina Newmanova of the Czech Republic and Bente Skari of Norway. They’re also 1-2 in this season’s World Cup standings.

Gold Medalists:

Men Women

Women's 4x5-Kilometer Relay
Year	Name, Country	Time
1956	Finland	1:09:01.0
1960	Sweden	1:04:21.4
1964	USSR	59:20.0
1968	Norway	57:30.0
1972	USSR	48:46.15
1976	USSR	1:07:49.75
1980	East Germany	1:01:45.0
1984	Norway	1:06:49.7
1988	USSR	59:51.1
1992	Unified Team	59:34.8
1994	Russia	57:12.5
1998	Russia	55:13.5
Note: 10 km (classical) changed to 15 km (classical) in 1992; 20 km (freestyle) changed to 30 km (freestyle).

Looking Back at Nagano: Skiing in poor, slushy conditions, Norway’s Bjarte Engen Vik easily won the gold medal – 27.5 seconds ahead of Finland’s Samppa Lajunen. Lajunen edged Russia’s Valery Stolyarov by .7 seconds, closely pursuing Stolyarov until the final straightway, and finally passing him a mere 60 meters from the finish line.

Norway won the Nordic combined portion as well; Vik was a member of that team, too. Finland was expected to win because the team contained a collection of strong jumpers, but they were not able to close the distance between themselves and the Norwegians in the cross-country section – they had to settle for the silver medal.