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FSchmertz t1_jacqbd1 wrote

Reply to comment by CloudDweller182 in Jessie Diggins is first U.S. cross-country skier to win individual world title by smackslips

Guessing you have a few less people than the US?

If you have less to pick from, you're less likely to find the "best in the world."

It's just that the US didn't have that many X-C skiers in the past, and still doesn't have a lot of places with the necessary snow for it.

Signed Captain Obvious? ;)

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Ok_Introduction2 t1_jacwkm5 wrote

Bro, look at Norway. They are amazing at the Winter Olympics! Size and population are not the only factors.

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MoozeRiver t1_jad534t wrote

It's more about that Estonia had quite a few doping cases in XC skiing in the past and that basically killed interest.

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CloudDweller182 t1_jaepe6e wrote

Well non of the medal winner were never caught doping i guess but they probably were doing it. Guess they had good enough support team to make sure they are “cleared”.

Tho the recent doping scandal, boosting and still finishing 60++, just goes to show that even if you do dope, you still got to have the strength and skill to compete for medal.

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AGreatBandName t1_jadb0oi wrote

Cross country skiing is not a mass participation sport in the US. I live in a place that gets reliable snow (or at least it used to up until a decade ago), and you would really have to seek out xc ski racing. Every high school has basketball teams in my area, but very few have xc skiing even though it would be a good complement to track (spring) and cross country running (fall).

Yes there is a lot of potential for finding the best with a higher population, but if these people never get introduced to the sport it won’t happen. On the other hand Norway has a population of less than Minnesota, but routinely dominates xc and biathlon. (Speaking of biathlon, you’d think the US would be good at it because, ya know, guns, but it’s the only Olympic sport we’ve never medaled in)

Hopefully one thing that will come out of the success of the American women in xc skiing over the past few years is increased interest in the sport, not just competitively but also recreationally. If nothing else it would give the people in my area a fun activity to do in the winter so they’d stop bitching every time it snows.

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TheAustr0naut t1_jadlm5i wrote

I never heard of biathlon before this comment. Thank you for introducing me to the world of guns on skis.

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AGreatBandName t1_jado5b2 wrote

Video of all the biathlon World Cup (a series of races for top competitors throughout each winter) and world championships races are free at https://www.eurovisionsports.tv/ibu/

The biathlon world championships were just held a week or two ago. There are several different formats of races - interval starts where each person competes individually and whoever has the best time at the end wins, relays with either same-gender or mixed-gender, and a mass start where everyone starts at once and the first across the line wins.

The men’s and women’s mass starts were both particularly good this year, they’d be a good introduction to biathlon imo.

Men: https://www.eurovisionsports.tv/ibu/#ABSQGMVLKH
Women: https://www.eurovisionsports.tv/ibu/#APVTYFQZ33

There’s also /r/biathlon but I don’t really go on there much so I can’t vouch for it myself.

Cheers!

Edit: the link for the men’s race doesn’t work right, this one will take you directly to the video: https://ebu-emp.ebu.ch/embed/ABSQGMVLKH

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Frankishism t1_jaeqwza wrote

Biathlon is a big deal for me because it was the first sport where I enjoyed watching men’s and women events equally, and then I realized my gender bias in sports and changed my attitude across the board. I was a younger teenager at the time, so always a bit thankful. Also I hope the U.S. gets a medal soon.

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WesternOne9990 t1_jae58uv wrote

It’s commonplace in Minnesota.

I actually sorta competed on the same cross country team as her basically because men and womens team practiced together… I was 4 years too young to know her but my brother did from classes.

She also lived in Afton where they have the ski hill called afton alps attached to afton state park where they have groomed trails for Nordic, which is what we called cross country.

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