– It seems as if Norway is always ten years ahead of other nations, says Italy’s national team coach Markus Cramer. Before this weekend’s five-mile race in Holmenkollen, six of the top eight in the men’s World Cup are Norwegians. Several times the Norwegian men have almost covered the top of the results lists. Developments in the last decade make the coach profile a concern. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo at the front of the field in the 30-kilometer race during the WC in Planica. Best foreigner, William Poromaa (th) came fourth. Worst Norwegian came fifth. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTBJohannes Høsflot Klæbo at the front of the field in the 30-kilometer race during the WC in Planica. Best foreigner, William Poromaa (th) came fourth. The worst Norwegian was number five. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Shows the development Throughout the 2000s, the picture was different. Different countries took turns winning and taking the podium, both in the championship and the World Cup. One year, Norway only had Petter Northug among the top 15 in the World Cup overall. But something started to happen in the years after the World Ski Championships in Oslo in 2011. Although the corona epidemic and the Russian ban have had an impact in recent years, the trend has been clear. There has been less and less spread at the top. news’s map of Ski Europe shows how the men’s cross-country skiing elite has changed in the World Cup over the past 20 years. The map shows nations with runners in the top 15 overall in the World Cup each season from 2004–2023. The red color shows the number of runners from each nation. The development in the map shows how several nations almost disappeared from the top on the men’s side: Nine years in a row, Germany did not have a single men’s runner in the top 15 in the World Cup overall. This year they have a runner. For seven years in a row, Sweden had at most one male runner in the top 15, after the WC on home soil in 2015. For several years, an athlete from Switzerland, Dario Cologna, was the rival from Central Europe. Now Switzerland is lost on the men’s side. After the Czech star Lukas Bauer retired, the Czech Republic also disappeared. This year they have a runner in the top 15. Outside of Europe, Canada also disappeared when Alex Harvey retired in 2019. Iivo Niskanen in the front ahead of Dario Cologna, Canadian Harvey and three Norwegians. Now Canada and Switzerland are away from the cross-country summit on the men’s side. Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP At the same time, Norway has almost consistently had close to half of the runners among the fifteen best in the World Cup over the past decade. – Need more nations – The statistics don’t lie. But I have been pleasantly surprised after the Russians disappeared. If you ignore the men’s distance races, I think there are almost more nations than ever before, says Vidar Løfshus. From 2006 to 2019, Løfshus was manager of the Norwegian national cross-country team. In his last championship, Norwegian men took all the gold. In the sprint in the recently concluded world championships, France won bronze, but in Løfshus’s period as leader, the cross-country finish changed. – We need more nations on the podium, says Cramer. German Friedrich Moch in front of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo during the Tour de Ski race in Oberstdorf in January. There was a total lack of natural snow in the area. Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / APTyske Friedrich Moch in front of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo during the Tour de Ski race in Oberstdorf in January. There was a total lack of natural snow in the area. Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / AP Russia, where he was national team coach for a number of years, is banned after the invasion of Ukraine. It has opened up to a few more nations. Outside of Europe, the USA has a men’s runner in the top 15 in the World Cup for the first time in the last twenty years. There is also Great Britain. But the Norwegian-Russian dominance in the years leading up to the Russian ban pushed out runners from other nations at the top to a large extent. The previous four seasons averaged 11 of the 15 best in the world from Norway and Russia on the men’s side. Marcus Hellner wins the 30 kilometers during the Olympics in 2010. No Norwegians were then in the race. Photo: PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI / REUTERSMarcus Hellner wins the 30 kilometers during the Olympics in 2010. No Norwegians were then in the race. Photo: PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI / REUTERS The numbers speak for the last three world championships are also clear for both sexes. Together, Norwegian and Swedish men and women have taken 83.3 per cent of the medals in the individual WC races in this period. The two nations have won five times as many medals individually as all other nations combined. Only American Jessica Diggins and Russian Aleksandr Bolsjunov have broken the Norwegian-Swedish winning streak in the WC in this period. In the Olympics last year, Norway took five out of 12 possible golds. Russia was best on the men’s side. But this year, Norway has once again been almost dominant on the men’s side. During the WC in Planica, there was at least one Norwegian double victory in all men’s individual exercises. – If you beat a Norwegian in the WC, you go fast. I am satisfied with that. It is wonderful to break a bit of the Norwegian dominance, noted Swedish William Poromaa according to Expressen, when he had a Norwegian behind him at the 15-kilometer mark. In the three miles and the 15 kilometers, the Swede was the only athlete to beat a single Norwegian runner. More problems Cramer admires the Norwegian achievements and the work behind them. But in Central Europe, he sees negative developments. Worse snow conditions Fewer athletes provide fewer talents The level of training must be built up. It takes time. TV exposure Sponsor support – Cross-country skiing is not the number one sport. Many young runners switch to biathlon, says Cramer. He believes that action must be taken so that more small nations assert themselves in cross-country skiing. Among other things, he wants to have more exercises with women and men on the same team. In the last race before the WC, Norway had eight among the top ten. Earlier in the season it was sevenfold at Lillehammer. One of the best non-Scandinavian men’s distance runners in the WC, believes Norway deserves to have many runners at the start of the World Cup. – For other nations, it would have been good with fewer, but that’s ok, because they have many fantastic athletes. It would have been unfair if they had been given less opportunity to start, says German Friedrich Moch. Norwegian and Swedish domimans in the World Cup Individual results of the last three World Cups: Norway: Men: 26 out of 36 medals (72.2 per cent) Women: 15 out of 36 medals (41.7 per cent) Total for both sexes: 41 out of 72 medals (56, 9 percent) Sweden: Men: 1 out of 36 medals (2.8 percent) Women: 18 out of 36 medals (50 percent) Total for both sexes: 19 out of 72 medals (26.4 percent) Norway and Sweden total for both sexes: 60 out of 72 medals. That is 83.3 percent of individual medals in the last 36 exercises. Other nations: Men: 9 of 36 medals (25 percent) – Italy 1, Russia 6, Finland 1, France 1 Women: 3 of 36 medals (8.3 percent) – Slovenia 1, Russia 1 USA 1 Total for both sexes: 12 out of 72 medals (16.7 percent) Commercial decline After long-term German failure, the main international sponsor of cross-country skiing, Viessmann, pulled out of the sport in 2018, due to a lack of interest in major markets. The German company then extended the sponsorship agreements with jumps and combined instead. – There is a big difference from 10-15 years ago, says Cramer. Among other things, Germany then had a number of athletes at the top. Italy’s national team coach Markus Cramer has worked in both Germany, Switzerland and Russia. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB At the same time, viewing figures for cross-country skiing have dropped significantly in recent years. This is shown in a report carried out for FIS by the media analysis agency Nielsen. And when the German men won bronze at the WC relay, German TV did not broadcast this race live. The day before, the women’s relay was broadcast live. The German Ski Federation informs news that the explanation they received was that there was no belief in a men’s medal. As a result, only a summary was sent in recordings before the show jumping last Friday. – It is a disaster for cross-country skiing in Germany and Central Europe when it is not broadcast live on TV, says Cramer, who is German himself. Only the European sports channel Eurosport broadcast the relay. In recent years, there has been an upswing among Russian TV viewers, which has caused the fall in international TV numbers to be mitigated, before the ban on our neighboring country. But, according to the report last season, the total viewing figures for cross-country skiing had fallen by 20 per cent since the 2017/18 season. A problem The German national team manager Peter Schlickenrieder was himself among the world’s best sprinters in a period when Germany was among the dominant nations. He has previously advocated that fewer Norwegian runners should be allowed to go, so that the dominance is reduced. The German team took bronze in the relay in the WC. It was the first medal since the WC in 2011. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP Schlickenrieder believes the big problem in Germany is getting more coaches into the sport. – The biggest challenge … If you don’t have coaches, then you don’t have children. When a club has coaches, they have children. Then it doesn’t really matter if they have money or snow, because then you get to recruit skiers. It has to do with culture, says the German. He sees that Norway has a good system for developing runners from a young age. In Germany, he believes that many parents, who enter the sport, believe that they must develop a world champion from the age of 12. – Then you have the problem that they do not have the skills needed to start proper training when they reach senior level. It is a big advantage for Norway and Sweden, which also have a fairly good system, says the German. Seeing an effect Løfshus believes that the recruitment in Norway, measured against other nations, plays a role in development. But he also believes that the shoe can put pressure on the training front among rivals. Among other things, he sees an effect after Cramer took over responsibility for the Italian runners. In the past, Federico Pellegrino has been the stable runner, who takes medals in sprints. Italian Pellegrino crossed the finish line for silver during the team sprint behind Norway. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP Italian Pellegrino crossed the finish line for silver during the team sprint behind Norway. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP – Cramer has a very Norwegian training philosophy. He knows what it takes. And I think I’ve seen it a bit across the board that Italy has risen, says Løfshus, who now works for the national team’s clothing sponsor Craft. Italy won just before the World Cup its first relay in 17 years. Changed image Among the women, the situation has changed even though Norway and Sweden dominated throughout the championship. In the World Cup, the seven best runners are now from six different nations. Back in 2015, six Norwegian women were crowned at the top overall. However, Cramer has not seen the big change on German TV, even though the German women won Olympic gold last year. – Before, you could see everything live on TV. Now it looks like a little sport on the side. When you are not on TV, you also lose sponsors, says Cramer.
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The European map reveals the fall – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
