Cross Country Director Update - March 2023
Published Fri 24 Mar 2023
Dear XC Skiers,
This update includes a mix of international event reports from the past three months and a preview of upcoming opportunities. For a non-Olympic season, 2022/2023 has been a busy one, with Australian athletes contesting the World Championship in Slovenia, the World Junior/U23 Championship in Canada, the World University Games in the USA, and World Cups at eight locations in five nations.
The stalwart behind the major events this season has been coach Alexei Sotskov. Originally Alexei's remit was to be (only) the major events hosted in North America, but we extracted our pound of flesh by sending him to Norway for the December World Cups and to Slovenia for the World Championships at the end of February as well. Alexei's wife Victoria assisted to keep Alexei sane as part of the support team for Lake Placid and Planica. After a few weeks home in Vermont in March (largely shoveling snow I hear), Alexei is booked to fly back into Australia just as we get start to busy with rollerski races and camps in April. Read on below for more information about these activities.
Wrapping up the international season, I'd like to give a big shout-out to our German support team headed up by Fabian Mauz and Toni Escher. Fabian was ruling the wax cabin and tracks at Lillehammer, Lake Placid, Val Mustair and Planica, while Toni was also behind the scenes at Beitostolen, Lake Placid, Whistler and Planica. Along the way there have been Swedes, Estonians, Norwegians, and more Germans jumping in to assist where needed, as well as a cameo appearance in Canada from our Beijing 2022 FIFO wax tech / coach extraordinaire Paul Kovacs.
Finally in this update, I'd like to introduce Tim Clarke and the new VIC XC committee. Tim has assembled a group of keen cross country skiers motivated to build the athlete pathways back up after several years of Covid. I'm looking forward to working with Tim and the committee to provide new opportunities particularly for Victorian junior skiers this year.
All the best in skiing,
Finn Marsland
Cross Country Skiing Program Director
In this edition:
- 2023 AUS Rollerski Championships
- March World Cups
- Planica 2023 World Champonships
- World Junior & U23 Champs
- Upcoming AUSXC Junior Camps
- Katerina Paul Announced As Thrive with Pride Ambassador
- Winter Coach Position Available at Falls Creek
- Introducing VIC XC
