How The FIS Can Learn from The IBU

It’s no secret that the FIS is on a mission to make cross-country skiing a more alluring and captivating sport to the masses. With the addition of sprints, pursuits, Tours, the Alpe Cermis and the proposed 5km up/5km down race in Szklarska Poreba, Poland for 2012; the sport is hardly a mirror image of what is once was.

Since the beginning of the year, NordicXplained has begun to catalogue biathlon .torrents along with the cross-country .torrents. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a fan of biathlon in the respect that I don’t have the time to follow the sport. Something I hope to correct in the next few years. What has struck me is how structured the races are. The sprints, pursuits, individual starts and relays all have a fixed distance for both men and women. However, the most intriguing aspect is the mixed relay; two men and two women from the same country make up the racing quartet.

With the FIS showing no signs of slowing down the evolution of the sport, it seems like a mixed relay in cross-country would be a fantastic idea. Just thinking about the format in the cross-country arena makes my mind race with excitement. The tactics, team orders and a twist on an old tradition makes the mixed relay a recipe for success. It wouldn’t have to be a radical change to the schedule either. If the FIS added only one or two mixed relay events per year in the calendar and taking out a team sprint or something else; I’m sure no one would make too much of a fuss.

For distances, it would be easy enough to meet halfway. Instead of a 5km for the women and a 10km for the men it could be a 7/7.5km for everyone.

If the FIS loosened the reigns and allowed teams to order their four skiers in any way they pleased would mean their would be a possibility of men and women racing the same leg. The amount of tactics from teams would make the release of a start-list would carry as much anticipation as a weigh-in before a professional fight.

With the mix of men, women, freestyle and classic techniques, this relay would prove to be the ultimate race to show which is the best distance country in the world. It would be the new staple to show which country is truly the strongest cross-country nation. The thought of a Norwegian contingency of Bjørgen, Sundby, Størmer-Steira, and Northug against a Swedish team of Rickardsson, Haag, Kalla and Hellner would perk up even the most casual ski fan.

With the strong showing in La Clusaz from the Swiss men and the domination of the Russian men in the individual races so far this year; to have them paired with their female teammates would show the true national team colours. It would also allow teams that aren’t powerhouses in the men or women’s division to form teams that could challenge for the win on any given Sunday. The Germans relay could look like Teichmann, Sachenbacher-Stehle, Fessel and Angerer while the Italians could take the form of Longa, di Centa, Piller-Cotter, and Follis with the first two legs for the classic specialist and the final two for the freestylers.

Imagine the tactical battle on the final leg if Northug had to close a three-four minute gap on Italy’s Arianna Follis to take the victory. This would solve the riddle of how to crack the Northug sprint finish when he is at his best too.

For these reasons, I think the FIS has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Sprinkling only one or two of these races into the calendar year would spice things up for the FIS without ruining the integrity of the sport and pull it further from its roots. Holding this race format only once or twice per year would make the race a spectacle much like the Drammen sprints or the Holmenkollen 30km/50km.

Will the FIS take note? I’m not sure, I’m just a blogger rambling on about a vision I have. The idea however does seem simple enough to execute and a twist on an old favourite. I personally can’t see anything that could possibly go wrong. That’s just my 2 cents.

From myself on behalf of NordicXplained, I want to wish everyone the very best this Christmas holidays and hope you log many pleasurable kilometers/miles on the trails with friends, family and loved ones.