Next week joint lubrication will be tested for the first time in the World Cup. All nations must use the same products when skiing, and you may use fewer lubricants than usual to prepare. The giant and advanced lubrication trailer for the Norwegian team will therefore remain at home. A greasing table, a greasing iron and a drill are the equipment the Norwegian greasers take with them to Tallinn. There they and the Smørjars from the other nations will stand together in the same tent. – We get to do as we are told, that’s probably the whole point, says Norway’s lubrication manager Stein Olav Snesrud, who is excited about how it will work in practice, to news. STAYING HOME: Norway’s grease trailer is an important weapon for the national team in the battle for top positions. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Being called a Norway move Usually it is the Norwegian skiers who spend a lot of time testing the athletes’ skis on the trail before a race. This time all the responsibility falls on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and co. The evening before the race, athletes can test the track and register two competition skis they wish to use. Only these skis can be prepared by the skiers, and the morning before the race the athletes will be given back the skis they will use. The aim of the project is both to cut costs and reduce the gap between the large and smaller nations. LUBRICATION MANAGER: Stein Olav Snesrud. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – It will never be 100 per cent fair, but it can be a way to keep the costs more under control, says race director of the FIS, Michal Lamplot. news’s cross-country expert Fredrik Aukland thinks it can be called a “Norway move”. – Yes, I actually think it is. One says that it is against the big nations, but if you look at the average over a season, you will see that Norway clearly has the best skiing on average, both on fixed and sliding. It’s not just about the products Norway uses and how many people there are, but it’s about knowledge, he believes. International cheer news has spoken to many foreign and Norwegian cross-country skiers about the innovation. Especially among foreigners, there is overwhelming support for the move. – I think it is very good for small nations, such as us. We can be on a level with nations like Norway, but it is much more difficult for us when we have fewer people, says Czech Katerina Janatova, who thinks Norway can be frustratingly good. Janatova is supported by Slovenian Eva Urevc and American Rosie Brennan. – It is really difficult for our team. We don’t have a big budget, so having competitive skis is a big challenge every single day, says Brennan, who is looking forward to the race in Tallinn. POSITIVE: American Rosie Brennan welcomes the new lubrication project. Photo: BORUT ZIVULOVIC / Reuters French Renaud Jay believes that the move will make the job of the buttermen less important, and that one potentially removes an important element of competition in the sport. Ben Ogden from the USA thinks that lubrication and ski testing are stressful, but is not sure that a joint scheme will have such a big impact. – If it looks like someone has bad skis compared to Johannes, it is probably because they ski worse than Johannes. Not because they have worse skis, he says. – Do you hope joint lubrication will become the new normal? – Yes. Look at how many resources we use, fuel and all that shit. Just so that we can put something else under our skis. Who cares? Let’s just keep it simple and compete against each other. The Norwegian athletes news has spoken to also think it will be interesting to test joint lubrication. – It will be exciting, says Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. – Today I probably have the best ski in the field, it is not certain that I have then. It may be more consistent, said World Cup manager Tiril Udnes Weng after the sprint in Drammen. SOVEREIGN: Klæbo waves back to the public and the competitors after a crushing victory in Drammen. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Don’t be afraid of cheating Aukland agrees with the athletes that FIS is testing a joint lubrication system and is excited to see what results it will have on the course. – As long as cross-country skiing is in such a critical phase internationally – that we are struggling to make the sport survive – decisions must be made that may look negative to Norwegian eyes. That is why I am positive that measures are tested to get more equal frameworks. Inside the lubrication room, a member of the jury must check that no one is using any “illegal” products. Nevertheless, no one will stand and check that the athletes don’t slip on a pair that hasn’t been groomed inside the common area. Until now, the system is largely based on trust. – There is always a chance that someone will manipulate the system, but I don’t think that will happen in Tallinn, says Lamplot.
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Testing joint lubrication in cross-country skiing
