Ski Area Dundret

Lina Andersson

Photo: Arnd Hemmersbach/
NordicFocus

November 14, 2006

Next Cross-Country World Cups near the Polar Circle

After a very successful World Cup kick-off in the German metropolis of Duesseldorf, the next World Cup events will take place in the North of Europe: this weekend in Gällivare (SWE, 18.-19.11.) and one week later in Kuusamo (FIN, 25.-26.11.).

Gällivare - situated about 70km north of the Arctic Circle right in the middle of Lapland - hosts the Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup for the third time. “Everything is ready in Gällivare. We got approx. 25 cm of snow in the night from Saturday to Sunday on top of the already prepared artificial snow on our courses in the “Dundret” ski area,” says Lars-Gunnar Pettersson, Chief of Competition in Gällivare. “After 1995 and 2004, when we stood in for Oestersund, it is an honor for us to host the Cross-Country World Cup again.”

In Gällivare, the competition schedule includes individual races in the free technique of 10 km for ladies and 15 km for men on Saturday and team competitions on Sunday.

A minimum of 26 nations will be at start in “Dundret”, which is named after the home-mountain (823m) of Gällivare. The field includes 104 men and 87 ladies, among whom the local heros Lina Andersson (Olympic Champion in Team Sprint), Charlotte Kalla (Junior World Champion in Pursuit) and Marcus Hellner.

We shall see on the weekend which athletes are already in top form. Chances are good that the Norwegians, who have also entered the veteran Hilde G. Pedersen as well as two biathletes, Lars Berger and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, will continue their good results from Duesseldorf, though not without a challenge from other nations and athletes.

After the weekend in Gällivare, the Cross-Country family will move west to the north of Finland. On 25th and 26th of November, the Nordic Opening - a joint World Cup weekend for all FIS Nordic disciplines - will take place in Kuusamo/Ruka for the fifth time. For the first time, the Cross-Country athletes will compete in a Sprint race in Ruka, a popular winter sport resort.

Links to the organizer websites:
Gällivare: http://www.topofeurope.com/worldcup
Kuusamo/Ruka: http://www.nordicopening.com

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