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Pre-Olympic ski week: Sochi put to the test

 

Pre-Olympic ski week: Sochi put to the test

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AOC
Pre-Olympic ski week: Sochi put to the test

SOCHI 2014: On February 1-3, three international Test Events will be carried out simultaneously by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee at Olympic venues in the Mountain and Coastal Clusters.

SOCHI 2014: On February 1-3, three international Test Events will be carried out simultaneously by the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee at Olympic venues in the Mountain and Coastal Clusters.

The FIS Cross-Country World Cup will be held alongside the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup and a stage of the Samsung ISU Short Track World Cup.

The pre-Olympic ski week will be the first international competition of this level at the "Laura" Center, which will host the 2014 Olympic tournaments in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

The organization and staging of the Cross-Country World Cup will be attended by about 70 representatives of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, who will be in “Olympic mode” in order to test all the features and services at the venue.

"After several years of planning, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Team will now have a final opportunity to test the new facilities at the highest level, and to continue to refine their processes and further train the staff,” Gian Franco Kasper, president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) said.

“For the world’s best Cross-Country athletes this will be the only opportunity to experience the Olympic venues in competition shape before the 2014 Games in just a year’s time."

The competition will be attended by the cream of international skiing, including: the current World Cup leader and 2013 winner of the prestigious Tour de Ski, Alexander Legkov from Russia; Olympic champions and World Cup winners Petter Northug and Marit Bjoergen from Norway; Dario Cologna from Switzerland; Justyna Kowalczyk from Poland; and many others. The pre-Olympic week in Sochi will see athletes drawn from a total of 26 countries.

After the teams' arrival on 27 January, they will conduct a series of training sessions from 28 to 31 January. The competition program days on 1-3 February include individual and team competition sprint starts as well as classic and freestyle pursuit skiathlon.

In addition to the FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, Sochi will be welcoming both participants and spectators to the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup and a stage of the Samsung ISU Short Track World Cup.

The Nordic Combined event at the "RusSki Gorki" Jumping Center is going to be the first tournament at which the Nordic Combined track and the K-125 Olympic Ski Jump will be put to the test.

"Russia has a long and impressive tradition in the Nordic ski sports and has already organized several, highly successful FIS World Cups in Cross-Country Skiing in Kavgolovo, Rybinsk and Moscow.

“However, this weekend will also see a premiere as this will be the very first time that the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is staged in Russia," Kasper acknowledged.
As for the short track competitions in the "Iceberg" Skating Palace, they will be of particular interest to the public in light of what took place at the European Championships in January 2013, when the Russian team achieved its best ever results.

"All skaters are looking forward to skating in the brand new Skating Palace 'Iceberg' and to feeling the pre-Olympic spirit,” Jan Dijkema, Vice President of the International Skating Union (ISU) said.

“The stadium and all its facilities are really magnificent. Therefore the ISU is very much looking forward to this major ISU event in Sochi with exciting races and excellent results. I am sure this will be an outstanding ISU event and a highlight for the pre-Olympic short track speed skating season."

There will be 71 athletes from 15 countries taking part in the stage of the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup at "RusSki Gorki", whilst the stage of the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track will attract 181 competitors from 27 countries to the "Iceberg". There will be more than 170 members of staff present from the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, making sure these two representative Test Events run smoothly.

All of the Functional Areas and services involved have already been tested by the Games organizers at two of the Olympic venues, in December 2012, during the stages of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and the final of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. This time round, some of the world's greatest proponents of Nordic Combined will get their first chance to test out the K-125 ski jump and the Nordic Combined track in winter conditions, at "RusSki Gorki". It is here that the Olympic ski jumping and Nordic Combined competitions are going to take place in 2014.

For its part, the ice-rink at the "Iceberg" Skating Palace is going to be adapted in order to host the short track events, which are bound to attract a lot of interest among Russian viewers thanks to the national team's triumphant performance at the European Championships, which took place in January 2013.

Among the favorites for the forthcoming events are Victor Ahn - a naturalized Russian citizen and triple Olympic champion in 2006 (competing for South Korea) - and Vladimir Grigoriev, the first Russian to hold the short track world record over 500 m.

On February 1, qualification rounds will take place at the "Iceberg" in all the short-track disciplines, and then on February 2-3 all of the medals will be contested. The Nordic Combined program will begin at "RusSki Gorki" on February 2 in the individual event, whilst the team events will take place on February 3.

Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and Olympics.com.au

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