News

At EYOWF, the two tracks in snow have for many years been ruled by Russia. With a total of 65 precious medals it dominates the country standings and according to the former national athlete Martin Petrásek, nothing seems to change this simple fact: “Young Russian athletes will be at the top in Liberec. There are many talented skiers and the race will uncover strong will and determination. Young athletes are bursting with power and are physically ready,” and he adds that their career among adults is not always straightforward. “Many do not last and their performances go downhill for various reasons.”

After the north European superpowers of Norway and Finland, the Czech Republic takes a nice fourth place. The host country is slowly dropping away from the medal positions. However, only once out of nine Festivals (in Jaca 2007) have the Czechs come back empty-handed. Local skiers can only remember the complete set of medals Martin Koukal brought back from Andorra in 1995 or the double winner Ondřej Horyna ten years later.

The ace up the sleeve on the trails in Vesec, as far as Martin Petrásek is concerned, is the Czech athlete Petra Nováková. “She had a very good race at the Junior World Championship despite her age. In fact, she could start in the next two events,” Petrásek commented on the seventeen-year-old athlete from LS Slovan Carlsbad.

“The ambitions of Czech athletes are not high at this event. To be honest – if we win a medal, it would definitely be a great surprise,” says Petrásek in a realistic tone concerning Czech expectations. He estimates their results to be around tenth place.

The Famous Ones

“They make an appearance at EYOWF once and that’s it,” says Petrásek and we have the proof to support his claim. Only a fraction of young athletes are able to carry on among the adults. Despite this fact, success at the European Youth Olympics means there are prospects for the future. The stars that have made it to the next level are the former opponents of Kateřina Neumannová: Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Julia Chepalova and Marit Bjørgen. Among men the switch to adult competition was best carried out by the legendary skier Ivan Bajčičák, a Slovak bronze medallist from 1993, and Johan Olsson, the Swedish triple medallist from the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Trivia

It wasn’t until the fourth Festival in 1999 that the home country of the legendary Bjørn Dæhlie could complete the set of medals. As time passed, Norway proved its dominance in Cross Country Skiing and their reign of the previous years was crowned by Skar Sindre Bjornestad, who won three gold medals at the 2009 EYOWF in Szczyrk, Poland. Only the Russian duo Chugayev – Sannikov were able to win more medals (4).

One interesting fact is that the bronze medallist from the Mixed Relay in 1995 is currently the best Swedish biathlete, Björn Ferry. The Romanian Eva Toflavi also made her mark when she finished third sixteen years ago. For her country that has been the only success in Cross Country Skiing to this point.

Country standings in the history of EYOWF Cross Country Skiing