Close to 1000 skiers from the age of eight and upwards participated in Lommedalsrennet on Saturday. The race was held at Gullhaug Skistadion in Lommedalen, Bærum.
No wonder the Norwegian cross-country skiers achieve international success year after year. Although we are only 5 million people, our famous cross-country skiers provide a broad basis for recruitment to the sport. Competitions starts at an early age and interest is great. Who doesn't want to be a Northug, Bjoergen or Johaug.
In the age groups up to 14, all participants were awarded a prize. Winning is not the most important, said one of the 11 year-old girls. - But it is fun, and i like to be together with my friends. - I beat my own record by 12 seconds!, Anders Jensen (12) said, after a magnificent race which gave him 17'th place among more that 100 participants
The youngsters have the latest and best equipment and nothing is left to chance. Their parents are 100% behind them, talking about tactics, waxing, who to beat, and last but not least, providing the best comfort and explanations when the results are not as expected!
These kind of competitions are held troughout the winter in all parts of the country, not only in Cross Country, but also in Alpine, Ski-Jumping and other ski diciplines as well.
On March 10'th the Children's Holmenkoll Day is organized at the Holmenkollen Ski Arena near Oslo. Here, children from 3 years and up to 12 may participate on famous competition grounds.
No wonder the ones with talent become world famous, when they start at this age.
The Norway Post
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The British newspaper The Daily Mail raves about Oslo's cross-country ski opportunities in an article about the Norwegian capital's easily accessible outdoors.
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Norway's Marit Bjørgen defended her second title in as many days, when she won the women's he 7.5km classic, 7.5km freestyle pursuit skiathlon at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme on Saturday.
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Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal won the gold medal in the men's World Championship downhill event in Schladming, Austria on Saturday. Italy's Dominik Paris was second, and France's David Poisson came third...
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Norway's cross country queen, Marit Bjørgen, back after suffering from an irregular heart beat in December, won the 58th cross-country skiing World Cup win of her career in the 10km classic mass start at La Clusaz on Saturday.
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