Once in every two years, the best athletes gather at the Nordic World Ski Championships, an event which is second only to the Olympic Games in terms of its importance in the career of a sportsperson. This year, the Championships were hosted between 22^nd February and 5^th March by the Finnish city of Lahti, where 683 skiers of 61 nationalities competed for a total of 21 sets of medals in three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping and nordic combined.  At the end of the 12 action-packed days, the medal count sees Norway at the top with a total of 18 medals, 15 of which were won in cross-country skiing, the sport that the Scandinavian country has always dominated.  This edition of the World Championships was a successful one for team Germany, too, as it followed Norway in the overall ranking with 11 medals, 6 of which were gold.

©NordicFocus

In cross-country skiing, Norwegian Marit Bjørgen clearly stood out with her 4 golds won in the women’s 30 km mass start, relay, 10 km individual classic and skiathlon, thus reaching a total of 18 medals won at World Championships throughout her career. Bjørgen‘s teammates did not disappoint either, making a clean sweep in the ladies‘ events. That is, the Norwegian representatives were crowned World Champions in all women’s races.

In the men’s competitions, Russia obtained top performances through Sergey Ustiugov’s 4 medals.  Special recognition also went to a more exotic competitor, Venezuela’s Adrian Solano, whose story of ambition and perseverance can easily enter history and popular culture alongside those of the British ski jumper Eddy ‘The Eagle’ Edwards and of the Jamaican bobsleigh team. Solano, a 22-year-old cook who only took up roller skiing last year, entertained the crowds with his clumsiness and frequent falls caused by his lack of experience in skiing on snow. In fact, it was later discovered that the Venezuelan had never seen, let alone trained on snow before coming to Lahti for the Championships.

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©GEPA pictures/ Florian Ertl

In ski jumping, Germany obtained top results in both team and individual events, with the mixed team and the Olympic champion Carina Vogt taking the world titles, Andreas Wellinger winning silver on the normal and large hills and Markus Eisenbichler bronze on the normal hill. In the two individual events of the men, Austria’s Stefan Kraft proved unbeatable and became double World Champion. The expectations were met and the team title went to Poland for the first time in the country’s history, after solid performances from all four of their representatives.

In the nordic combined events, it was all about Germany. Johannes Rydzek dominated from start to finish, winning gold in all four disciplines which are part of the World Championships: individual Gundersen normal and large hill, team event and team sprint.

©sport.de

These World Championships took place in a lively atmosphere, as most of its events were sold out and over 220,000 spectators watched the events throughout the 12 days. The athletes will now prepare for their last competitions of the season, after which all eyes will be on the upcoming Winter Olympic Games 2018.

 

Read more about Venezuelan cross-country skier Adrian Solano’s journey to the World Championships in Lahti at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/sports/olympics/adrian-solano-nordic-world-ski-championships.html?_r=0

 

English – German glossary:

to gather (ˈɡæðə(r)) = sich versammeln

to host  (həʊst) = veranstalten

cross-country skiing (ˌkrɒs ˈkʌntri ˈskiːɪŋ) = Skilanglauf

action-packed (ˌæk.ʃənˈpækt) = vollgepackt mit Handlung

medal count (ˈmedl kaʊnt) = Medaillenspiegel

overall ranking (ˌəʊvərˈɔːl ˈræŋkɪŋ) = (hier) Medaillenwertung

to stand out (stænd aʊt) = hervorragen

relay (ˈriːleɪ) = Staffel

teammate (ˈtiːmmeɪt) = Teamkollege / Teamkollegin

to make a clean sweep = alles abräumen, einen Durchmarsch hinlegen

to crown (kraʊn) = krönen

race (reɪs) = Rennen

recognition (ˌrekəɡˈnɪʃn) = Anerkennung

perseverance (ˌpɜːsɪˈvɪərəns) = Durchhaltewillen

bobsleigh (ˈbɒbsleɪ) = Rodel

to take up sth =  sich auf etw verlegen

clumsiness (ˈklʌmzinəs) = Ungeschicklichkeit

let alone = geschweige denn

hill (hɪl) = (hier) Schanze

unbeatable (ʌnˈbiːtəbl) = unschlagbar

to meet expectations = den Erwartungen entsprechen

solid (ˈsɒlɪ) = stark

from start to finish = vom Anfang bis zum Ende

lively (ˈlaɪvli) = munter

sold out (səʊld aʊt) = ausverkauft