Cross-country skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since the 1928 Chamonix Games. It involves skiing over various distances and terrains in two different techniques in the quickest time possible.
The classical skiing technique utilizes a kicking and gliding motion along a course with a prepared track. The freestyle technique utilizes a faster, skating motion along a smoothed course.
There are twelve events on the 2010 Olympic program, six each for men and women. The allowed technique is indicated in parentheses. Details of the events can be found in the "Competition Format" section.
Men: 15km (freestyle), Sprint (classical), Team Sprint (freestyle), 30km Pursuit (15km classical + 15km freestyle), 50km Mass Start (classical), 4x10km Relay (legs 1 & 2 in classical, 3 & 4 in freestyle)
Women: 10km (freestyle), Sprint (classical), Team Sprint (freestyle), 15km Pursuit (7.5km classical + 7.5km freestyle), 30km Mass Start (classical), 4x5km Relay (legs 1 & 2 in classical, 3 & 4 in freestyle)
Inside this sport: Competition Format | Equipment
Venue: All of the events will be contested at Whistler Olympic Park, the same venue used for Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined and Biathlon. Venue capacity will be 12,000.
Torino recap: After the cross-country competition at the 2002 Salt Lake Games was marred by doping and deception, the 2006 Torino Games presented a cleaner and more exciting series of races. On the men's side, Norway was kept off the top of the podium for the first time since 1988. Host nation Italy captured two gold medals, in the relay and in the 50km mass start, also known as the "ski marathon," where Giorgio di Centa outlasted his competition in the final kick. Swedish skiers won three gold medals in all, its first in the sport since 1988. Bjoern Lind won the sprint double. On the women's side, Kristina Smigun of Estonia won the first two races on the program, the Pursuit and the 15km. A huge surprise came in the sprint event, where unheralded Canadian Chandra Crawford broke away in the final 200 meters of the A-final to win the gold.
Canadian brings home the bacon: Crawford delivered a gold medal to Canada in 2006, and will be expected to repeat when the Games are held in her home country in 2010. Crawford described to NBCOlympics.com the joy of victory she felt at Pragelato in 2006 and her determination to succeed again in 2010. Read more.
North Americans emerge as contenders: With single gold medals at the past two Olympics, North American skiers have proven that cross country is no longer monopolized by the Europeans. Canada and the United States will enter talented and experienced athletes at the Vancouver Games, many of whom could reach the medal podium. Read more.
International outlook: Cross-country skiing has changed substantially since the 1990s. The addition of the sprint and team Sprint to the Olympic program and modification of the pursuit from a two-race to one-race event have helped boost the excitement of the sport. Also, nations far from the traditional Northern hotbed of cross-country skiing, such as Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have raised powerful skiers in recent years. On the men's side, Italy boasts Olympic veterans such as di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer and Cristian Zorzi, the Swiss start recent Tour de Ski winner Dario Cologna, while Czech skier Lukas Bauer is the men's defending overall World Cup champion. On the women's side, Slovenia's Petra Majdic is the current dominant force in sprint. The new generation of Scandinavian skiers, highlighted by Norway's Petter Northug and Ola Vigen Hattestad and Sweden's Emil Joensson and Charlotte Kalla, as well as Finland's Virpi Kuitunen and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, hope to restore the traditional balance of power.
Since winning gold in Torino, the king of the halfpipe has become a skateboarding champion. He's found time to surf, too.
