Marit Bjørgen

This Norwegian obsession with Petter Northug is slightly ridiculous. For such a sleaze, he sure gets a lot of attention. Whether it be roller-skiing without a helmet or playing poker in Vegas, Northug seems to find his way into the spotlight one way or another.

From the sports page to loaves of bread at the grocery, Petter's face is everywhere. His pompous, "All-About-Me" attitude is fed by the cheering Norwegian crowds. Yes, it is exciting to have a winner on your team! But I think Norwegian fans are focusing on the wrong athlete. The real hero of the Norwegian skiing scene is Marit Bjørgen.

photo courtesy of NRK

This woman gives a new definition to the word fast. Marit Bjørgen has won five of the six races she has competed in this season. She won the most medals in Vancouver, three out of the five of which were gold. She won the World Cup in 2005 and has a bucketful of World Championship medals. 

photo courtesy of VG

On Sunday in Davos, Switzerland, ski legend Bjørn Dæhlie said he was "very impressed" by Bjørgen, and gave this compliment:

"I do not think I've ever seen a female skier who has gone so fast."

Marit's goal is to beat Dæhlie's record of 46 World Cup victories, and she is well on her way, with 41 under her belt as of yesterday.

American skier (and my personal ski idol) Kikkan Randall said she was looking forward to "testing herself" against Bjørgen, calling her “perhaps the greatest female skier of all time.”

“She’s definitely firing really well—it’ll be fun,” Randall said in an interview with Fasterskier.

Podium at Davos sprint, 2010 (Arianna Follis, Marit Bjørgen, Kikkan Randall)
photo courtesy of Fasterskier

In an interview with Fischer Sports, Marit was asked to describe her position on the Norwegian team. Her response shows how much of a team player she is:

 "I don’t think I have any special position on the Norwegian team. Sure, I had some good results, but so did the others. We're a group that treats all its members equally and we all work together." 

Just this last weekend, that cooperative spirit came through. In the 10km Classic race, Bjørgen caught Polish competitor Justyna Kowalczyk with a couple of kilometers to go, but with her win already solidified, she didn't pass her. After the race, Marit told NRK that she "didn’t want to give Kowalczyk an extra boost" that could have helped her beat her teammate, Norwegian Therese Johaug.

Need some motivation to train? (Photo from La Crete Noire)

So this season let's turn the Norwegian spotlight on the person that deserves it. Northug's results have been less than impressive this year and his attitude seems to be stuck in pretentiousness. Bjørgen is the one bringing home the hardware. She is an incredibly strong competitor and an equally strong teammate. 

2010 Vancouver Olympics
photo courtesy of LA Times Olympics Blog

Thief

I have a confession to make.

Only one of the ski ties that I have with me in Norway are mine. The rest are all dutifully signed by their rightful owners, yet somehow ended up on my skis, and although I feel a bit guilty for swiping these years ago, I am elated every time I see a familiar name tucked in my pocket after a great ski.

 So thank you, victims of my ski ties crimes. You have snuck into my thoughts even though you are an ocean away. Thanks for skiing with me friends.

Green Oslo Project

This semester, I took a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Course at the University of Oslo. Our final project was to focus on an aspect of the city that was connected to the environment in some way, be that open green space, public transportation, or recycling stations. Our group decided to look at the city bikes program (which I introduced to you earlier) and the accessibility of students to the bikes. After too much time in front of the computer, here is the final product!

We concluded that the density in the city center was great, but as you travel further out, the accessibility is much worse. In fact, two of the largest universities in Oslo, UiO and BI, were outside of the 15 minute walking buffer. We proposed five more sites for the city bike program to place bike stations:

Ride on!

Rubbing Elbows with the Pros

On my ski this morning, I was up at Ullevålseter when a father/daughter combo came skiing up beside me. After starting in Norwegian, and my explanation of my limited language skills, the woman asked if I had found any other groomed tracks on the opposite side of the sports hut. The man seemed uninterested in my response, but very intrigued by my water bottle carrier.

He asked me- "Soldier Hollow?" 

I responded with a confused smile- "Uh, yeah..."

I still have my trail pass from Soldier Hollow, an incredible ski venue in Heber, Utah, close to Park City and the site of the cross-country events for the 2002 Winter Olympics. I had forgotten that it was attached to my hip!

"I've been to Soldier Hollow. I raced there in 1983."

WOW! Meeting nordic legends on the trail is no laughing matter! 

After some small talk, I continued skiing as they took a water break. Not long after, I heard the sound of skiers behind me, and with good trail etiquette (and being a bit star-struck) I jumped out of the track so that they could pass. I heard some giggles from the father/daughter duo as they scooted over into the other set of tracks. My concession would have been necessary in a race but for a weekday morning ski, it was a little overboard, a bit too polite. They thanked me anyway, and I had a chance to ski behind them for a few hundred meters before they flew into the woods.

No complaints from this gal. Sunny days (regardless of how short they may be), almost done with school, skis on my feet, and sharing the trails with Norwegian ski racers of all ages. Needless to say, I'm wearing a smile.

Welcome, December!

November was the toughest month for me in Norway thus far. The darkness was setting in, classes were coming to an end, and the month seemed to drag on without promise of the light at the end of the cold, dark tunnel. 

To wrap up November, I went for my first classic ski of the season! It was so cold in the morning that I deciding skating would be miserable, so I hopped the first T-bane into the city center, bought some kick wax (and maybe a few other ski related goodies...), and scooted my way through Nordmarka for a marvelous afternoon on the trails.

My journey took me to Ullevalseter, then on to Holmenkollen. I left my apartment at 2 PM, and just an hour later, the track lights flickered on. I had some incredible fading-sun views when I reached Frognerseten, a few kilometers above Holmenkollen. The picture doesn't do the view justice, but here it is anyway:

This morning I wanted to give December a proper welcome so I set out to watch the sunrise. The great thing about living at 60〫North latitude this time of year is that you don't have to wake up ridiculously early to watch the sunrise. In fact, I slept in, enjoyed a cup of tea, bundled up for my morning walk and still had plenty of time until the sun came up. I took the following picture at 9:00 AM on the dot:

I couldn't help smiling all the way back home. The sun's presence the past two days has put me in a great mood and wiped away any residual November funk. With the countdown until I see Paul well under three weeks, this month is looking good already!

Happy December from Norway!