2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Encyclopedia
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
2009 took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec
, Czech Republic
. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia
, having done so at Janské Lázně
(1925) and Vysoké Tatry
(both in 1935 and 1970).
The biggest sports event in the country's history, it hosted 589 athletes from 61 countries. Women's ski jumping
and Men's Nordic combined
10 km mass start events debuted at theses championships, both won by Americans
Lindsey Van
and Todd Lodwick
, respectively. Norway
won the most medals with twelve and most golds with five, all in the men's cross-country skiing
events, including three from Petter Northug
. Germany
finished second in the total medal count with nine though none of them were gold (eight silver and one bronze). Finland
finished third in the medal count with eight with three golds, all from Aino-Kaisa Saarinen in women's cross-country skiing. Fourth in total medal count, but second in gold medal count was the United States with six, including four golds, who prior to these championships, had won only three medals in all of the previous championships combined, including four medals in Nordic combined (Lodwick: two golds, Bill Demong
: one gold and one bronze). Kikkan Randall
became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver in the individual sprint.
Besides the debut of women's ski jumping at these championships, the big winner in the jumping events was Austria
with three medals and two each for Wolfgang Loitzl
and Gregor Schlierenzauer
. Adding the 10 km mass start, the Nordic combined format was changed from 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen to 10 km individual large hill (aka Large hill Gundersen) and 10 km individual normal hill (aka Normal hill Gundersen), respectively. Estonia
's Andrus Veerpalu
became the oldest gold medalist at 38 when he won gold in the men's 15 km event. Despite concern over the lack of snowfall that plagued event preparation prior to the championships, the championships themselves had an abundance of snowfall and wind that caused the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined mass start to be postponed for a day and the ski jumping individual large hill competition to be limited to one jump.
Attendance was between 180,000 and 200,000, twice the number at the previous championships in Sapporo, but 35 to 40 percent lower than the 2005 championships in Oberstdorf
. FIS
President Gian Franco Kasper commented at the closing ceremonies of the 15 nations earning medals at these championships, along with the successes of the television
coverage by Czech TV and the success of the women's ski jumping at these championships would pave the way for inclusion into the 2014 Winter Olympics
. A broadcast report from the European Broadcasting Union
released on 4 June 2009 had total viewership of 666 million global viewers, higher than that of the 2005 championships and the 2001 championships.
, Slovenia
during the weekend of 25–28 May 2007. Women's ski jumping became an official event for the first time at these championships on the normal hill which took place 20 February. This was approved at the May 2006 FIS Congress in Vilamoura
, Portugal
. Cross country skiing events had its classical interval start events adjusted to include a 5 km qualification event for women and a 10 km qualification for men for the women's 10 km and men's 15 km event with the top 20 finishers in each qualification advancing to the main events. These events took place 18–20 February. Nordic combined had the greatest changes in it schedule with the debut of the 10 km mass start that was also approved at the 2006 Congress in Vilamoura, and the replacement of the 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen events with two separate 10 km individual events. The first event, replacing the 15 km Gundersen, was a single jump from the individual normal hill followed by a 10 km cross country event using the Gundersen system while the second event, replacing the 7.5 km sprint, was a single jump from the individual large hill followed by a 10 km cross country event also using the Gundersen system. The Nordic combined changes were approved at an autumn seasonal meeting in Zurich
, Switzerland
, the week of 29 September 2008. Other changes listed in the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined team event was only one jump and being listed was the point-time differential at 1 point equaling 1.33 seconds.
Congress in Miami, Florida
, USA
on 3 June 2004. The opposing candidate city to Liberec was Oslo
, Norway
. Norwegian Ski President Sverre Seeberg stated to the Norwegian press before the voting started that he "thought it would be a close call, but not as close for FIS President Kasper to use his deciding vote." The fact this was the fourth time in a row that Liberec applied for the championships, and that is was almost 40 years since it last was arranged in Eastern Europe
(1970 in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia) might give Liberec an advantage, according to Seeberg.
Liberec was selected 11–4 over Oslo, and since there were 17 FIS members, Kasper did not vote. Seeberg was ineligible to vote, even though he served in place of the late Jan Jensen. The Oslo committee quickly announced after the loss that they would apply for the 2011 championships, which they got awarded two years later.
Prior to being awarded the World championships in 2004, Liberec had hosted a total of 40 cross country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping competitions though it had not hosted a cross country World Cup event by June 2005. At a 24–25 May 2005 meeting, a report was given by the Liberec committee to the FIS race directors on course inspection, including layout of the courses. On 10 May 2006, a coordination group meeting was held led by Roman Kumpošt, the first organizing committee chair, regarding venue construction, television production, and construction within Liberec itself in preparation for the championships. A coordination meeting took place in Liberec 18–19 April 2007 to discuss venue information and event preparation.
was originally an honorary vice president of the organizing committee. On 25 July 2007, Neumannová was appointed as the new president of the organizing committee as approved by the organizing committee, replacing Kumpošt. She also served as a World Cup organizer for the second of the Tour de Ski
events that took place in Prague
on 30 December 2007. During the week of 13 August 2007, a delegation visited the FIS headquarters in Oberhofen, Switzerland
and met with FIS President Kasper. This delegation included Liberec Mayor Jiří Kittner
, Organizing Committee Secretary Marek Rejman, Czech Ski Association President Lukáš Sobotka, and its General Secretary Norbert Pelc, and all four confirmed the work toward the sites used for the championships were proceeding as planned with test events that occurred in February 2008. Financing issues for the event were also clarified. The next scheduled update occurred at the FIS Autumn Meeting in Zurich
during the week of 24 September 2007. Progress was given by Organizing President Neumannová and Executive Director Marek Rejman while at Zurich, including updates on the venues (shown in the next section), and focused on the sports organization (including the technical directors); and the marketing and promotion of the test events. Liberec had also confirmed their support of the governmental financing for the university campus which served as the village for the teams in 2009.
7.3 million) in financial support. At the end of 2008, the championships were the biggest sports event in the history of the Czech Republic. On 16 December 2008, FIS Secretary General Lewis, FIS Event and Sponsor Manager Niklas Carlsson, Neumannová, and other key Organizing Committee staff met to discuss promotional activities for the event, including ceremonies, social events, and the accreditation system. That same day, an entire inspection of the team village took place at the Technical University of Liberec
where the entire complex was renovated. The students at the university left at the end of January 2009 for the teams to arrive on campus in mid-February.
from the neighboring town of Jablonec nad Nisou
were organized. Doping
programs that were successful at the previous World Championships in Sapporo continued with 78 EPO
and 430 blood
testing on athletes in the 1–15 February period prior to the 2009 championships. 450 pre-competition blood tests were conducted with the top four finishers plus two randomly selected athletes of each event, totalling 120 for the championships. These tests were conducted by the Czech National Anti-Doping Agency with assistance of the World Anti-Doping Agency
. Testing costs for the program were CHF
1.5 million. As of 25 February, a total of 90,000 spectators had attended the championships. Prior to the championships, there was concern of the lack of snowfall during the championships. During the championships, there was continuing snowfall. On 23 February, Czech Republic Senate Parliament chair
Přemysl Sobotka
presented FIS President Kasper with a silver commemorative medal of the Senate for his merits in the development of world skiing. Kasper lead the FIS delegation to this ceremony that took place in Liberec with Sobotka which included FIS officials and representative of all 61 teams. Included in this delegation were Milan Jirasek, FIS Council Member and Chair of the Czech Olympic Committee
, and Neumannová
coverage was provided by Czech Television
(CT), the host broadcaster. CT expected to produce over 60 hours of international coverage with a total of 54 TV cameras connected to 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) of cables. Over 1500 international media were onsite for the event. A total of 771 cumulative broadcast hours took place during the championship event, 70.3% shown live with the rest being tape-delayed. 17 national broadcasters televised the championships along with 69 Eurosport
and Eurosport Asia-Pacific nations., resulting in a total of 666 million global viewers The top events with the greatest naitional live audience was the men's ski jumping individual large and normal hill event from Poland
's TVP1 with 5.0 and 4.4 million viewers respectively. Germany's ZDF
had the 2nd highest national event ratings with 4.0 million viewers for the ski jumping men's team large hill event.
named Libi and it made its first appearance in the Czech Republic with Neumannová and Czech Republic prime minister Mirek Topolánek
at a meeting that same week.
rock band Deep Purple
, who performed at the opening ceremony 18 February, and the Slovak
band Elán
, who performed on 20 February. Concerts took place on the Liberec main square where medal award ceremonies occurred. In addition, there were special themed days, including Italian Day, Czech Day, Norwegian Day and Slovak Day. One recurring theme of this was free beer for people from these countries in some pubs at happy hour. The most famous fans at the championships were the Norwegians, who were very numerous compared with the other countries.
Cross-country skiing's Tour de Ski
winners were Finland's Virpi Kuitunen
for the women and Cologna for the men; both got 400 World Cup points for their respective TdS victories. Loitzl won Ski jumping's Four Hills Tournament
.
, Russia
.
At a coordination group meeting on 18–19 April 2007 in Liberec, the event and facility preparations were discussed. A review was also done for what could have done better from the previous World Championships in Sapporo earlier that year. According to FIS Secretary General Lewis, she was pleased about the construction progress of both Ještěd (ski jumping) and Vesec
(cross country skiing) and both venues were used as test events for the upcoming World Cup season. Organizing Committee chair Kumpošt stated that both venues would be completed by fall 2007 in order to ensure FIS certification. Also in attendance was the EBU and the organizing committee for the 2011 Championships in Oslo
. Snowfall that started on 17 November 2008 made it possible to produce man-made snow for the event, according to Vesec cross country skiing venue manager Robert Heczko. In ideal conditions, fourteen days of snow production were required to create the needed 60000 cubic metres (2,118,880 cu ft) of snow
to ensure coverage of all competition courses at Vesec. Over 20 snow cannons were used in the snow-making process when temperatures dip below freezing according to Heczko.
The cross country skiing venue took place at Vesec which had two 3.75 km loops in 2007. These loops were shortened to 3.3 km and 2.5 km, and then combined. Four additional loops of 1.2 km (women's sprint), 1.3 km (men's sprint), 5 km, and 7.5 km were also created. At the fall 2007 meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007, it was announced that Vesec had completed paving the courses for roller skiing and in-line skating, finalization of bridges, access roads, and permanent facilities; and installing snow-making equipment. The test event for cross country occurred during the weekend of 15–17 February 2008. Because of warm weather and the lack of snow, the organizing committee was forced to bring snow from the mountains surrounding Liberec. As a result, the races were held on the paved roller skiing track. Initially on 16 February they were scheduled to be pursuit events, but were changed to interval start events. The winner of the 10 km women's event was Norway's Astrid Jacobsen
while the winner of the 15 km men's event was Jean Marc Gaillard
of France
. Team sprint winners on the 17th were both from Norway with the ladies going to Marit Bjørgen
and Astrid Jacobsen and the men going to Martin Johnsrud Sundby
and Simen Østensen
Snow was lacking at the cross-country course as of 16 December 2008, but organizers were ready for expected cold temperatures from Christmas
2008 onward to prepare the courses for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, about 50000 cubic metres (1,765,733.3 cu ft) of snow had been produced using between 20 and 27 snow guns and two snow lances. Tracks were groomed, widen, and maintained in preparation of the Slavic Cup (Czech Republic, Poland
, and Slovakia
) events that took place the weekend of 17–18 January 2009. Courses were covered with snow of 50 centimetres (19.7 in) as of 11 February 2009. Snow reserves guaranteed the best conditions even if warm weather hit the Jizera Mountains. Closing ceremonies of the championships were held at Vesec.
which has two hills that were already to FIS specifications. The normal hill size (HS) was 100 m (HS100) while the large hill size was 134 m (HS134). Both hills were used for FIS ski jumping World Cup venues with Finnish ski jumper Janne Ahonen
holding the record jump of 139 m on the HS134 hill in 2004. Modifications were done to the outrun and data was gathered on the wind flow within the ski jumping area from January to March for 2006 to 2009. At the fall 2007 meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007, it was announced by the Organizing Committee that construction was proceeding according to schedule, with completion in mid-December 2007. The test event for Jested took place on 8–9 February 2008. A grandstand of 10,000 spectators was constructed in order to have night time ski jumping the weekend of 9–10 February 2008. The hill suffered a landslide caused by continuous rainfall around the hill during the week of 28 January 2008, but the outrun was not affected by the event, according to Liberec mayor Jiri Kittner. On 1 February, Neumannová stated that the ski jumping events took place as scheduled. The lift to the ski jump that was not working during the FIS World Cup B Nordic combined event in January was fixed. The winners of the ski jumping test event at the HS134 hill were Thomas Morgenstern
of Austria on 8 February and Anders Jacobsen
of Norway on 9 February. An Alpen Cup competition took place on the weekend of 20–21 December 2008 to have final test procedures and infrastructure for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, the main grandstand
was complete while the teams worked on proper shaping of the hills for use. The large hill was closed while the normal hill was designated for ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete training. Further construction during the week of 19 January 2009 included spectator stairs on the side of the hill, mobile containers for the athletes and their service teams; and a spectator catering
tent was set up.
events used both venues listed for cross country skiing and ski jumping. The test event for Nordic combined occurred during the weekend of 15–17 February 2008. Because of the lack of snow and warm weather prior to the test event, the schedule for the test event was adjusted to the sprint event on 15 February, the Gundersen event on 16 February, and the sprint qualification event on 17 February. The sprint event on 15 February was cancelled to changing winds. Meanwhile the Gundersen event on 16 February was changed to a mass start event won by Norway's Petter Tande
. Two unsuccessful attempts at the ski jumping part of the sprint qualification event to high winds on the 17th resulted in the event's cancellation. A World Cup event leading up to the championships was to have taken place 13–14 December 2008 in the 10 km individual large hill event as a test event, but was cancelled on 6 December 2008 to warm weather and lack of snow. Neumannová stated that they had a second plan in getting snow from the Jizerske mountains higher elevations where there were better conditions for snowing. 10000 cubic metres (353,146.7 cu ft) of snow at Bedřichov and Albrechtice
were prepared for two nights. The third plan proposed two large parking places in the Krkonoše Mountains with natural snow collected for use in the Vesec area. Neumannová assured everyone "that the entire team is working very hard in order to deliver a successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championships." and could not wait to "welcome all the teams, the international media, our guest, and of course, thousands of fans to Liberec in February."
in Liberec was used as the operational center for the championships. This included accreditation for the athletes, location of the organizing committee support staff, an international media center, and individual race offices. It also served as the site for the opening ceremonies of the championships.
The main winner in the cross country events was Norway with seven medals, including five golds, all in the men's events. Petter Northug of Norway won three golds, earning them in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, 50 km, and 4 x 10 km relay. His teammate, Ola Vigen Hattestad, won golds in the individual and team sprint events. Estonia's Andrus Veerpalu became the oldest winner at 38 in the men's 15 km event. Kristin Størmer Steira was Norway's only medal in the women's events with a silver in the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit event. For the women's events, the biggest winner was Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen with four medals, including three golds (Team sprint, 10 km, and 4 x 5 km relay) and one bronze (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit). Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk won three medals at the championships with two golds (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit and 30 km) and a bronze (10 km). The only gold not awarded to either Kowalczyk or Saarinen was the women's individual sprint won by Italy's Arianna Follis. In that same event, Kikkan Randall became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver.
Medal table – men's cross country skiing
Medal table – women's cross country skiing
Medal table
Medal table – men's ski jumping
Medal table – women's ski jumping
to include the event for the 2014 Games in Sochi with a possible team event as well. Concerning the Nordic combined 10 km mass start, Kasper stated that the event will be thoroughly analyzed as part of an overall season assessment as part of the discipline's current overhaul. Finally, Kasper wished everyone the best and looked forward to seeing everyone at Oslo for the next Nordic World Ski Championships.
in Val di Fiemme
, Italy. Besides the 2009, 2011, and 2013 organizing committees in attendance, other attendees included the Norwegian Ski Federation
, the European Broadcasting Union
television, FIS, and the APF marketing partners.
Of the 73 skiers who won medals at these championships, 34 of them would medal at the Winter Olympics
in Vancouver
the following year. Three of the skiers who won the world championships in their respective events, Bill Demong in the nordic combined 10 km individual large hill, Justyna Kowalczyk in the cross-country skiing women's 30 km, and Petter Northug in the cross-country skiing men's 50 km, would win Olympic gold in those same events.
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...
2009 took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec
Liberec
Liberec is a city in the Czech Republic. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, it is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic....
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, having done so at Janské Lázně
Janské Lázne
Janské Lázně is a small spa town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 850 inhabitants. It is located in mountainuous area 519 meters above sea level....
(1925) and Vysoké Tatry
Vysoké Tatry (town)
Vysoké Tatry , informally Mesto Vysoké Tatry , is a town at the feet of the Slovak part of High Tatras in Slovakia including all the major resorts in that region...
(both in 1935 and 1970).
The biggest sports event in the country's history, it hosted 589 athletes from 61 countries. Women's ski jumping
Ski jumping at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic, four ski jumping were held with three for men and one for women. It was the first time women's ski jumping took place and was so successful that FIS President Gian Franco Kasper hoped to include the event for the 2014 Winter...
and Men's Nordic combined
Nordic combined at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic, four Nordic combined were held. It also showed the biggest format changes since the introduction of the Gundersen method at the 1985 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. In addition of the 10 km mass start event,...
10 km mass start events debuted at theses championships, both won by Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Lindsey Van
Lindsey Van
Lindsey Van is an American ski jumper who has competed since 2002. Van won a gold medal in the inaugural women's ski jumping event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and has a total of eight Continental Cup victories in her career.In 2008, Van's knee cartilage was crushed on...
and Todd Lodwick
Todd Lodwick
Todd Lodwick is an American nordic combined skier and by several measures the most successful North American in this sport ever...
, respectively. Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
won the most medals with twelve and most golds with five, all in the men's cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic, twelve cross-country skiing events were held with six for men and six for women. The format of the program has been unchanged since the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany...
events, including three from Petter Northug
Petter Northug
Petter Northug Jr. is a Norwegian cross country skier and double Olympic champion. He has 9 World Championship and Winter Olympic gold medals with 13 medals overall, and nine individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 20 podium places...
. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
finished second in the total medal count with nine though none of them were gold (eight silver and one bronze). Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
finished third in the medal count with eight with three golds, all from Aino-Kaisa Saarinen in women's cross-country skiing. Fourth in total medal count, but second in gold medal count was the United States with six, including four golds, who prior to these championships, had won only three medals in all of the previous championships combined, including four medals in Nordic combined (Lodwick: two golds, Bill Demong
Bill Demong
Bill Demong is an American Nordic combined skier and Olympic gold medalist. Demong is a four-time Olympian competing in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino and Vancouver.-Career:...
: one gold and one bronze). Kikkan Randall
Kikkan Randall
Kikkan Randall is an American cross-country skier from Anchorage, Alaska. She is the niece of former cross-country skiing Olympians Betsy Haines and her brother, Chris Haines...
became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver in the individual sprint.
Besides the debut of women's ski jumping at these championships, the big winner in the jumping events was Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
with three medals and two each for Wolfgang Loitzl
Wolfgang Loitzl
Wolfgang "Wuff" Loitzl is an Austrian ski jumper who has competed since 1997. He won seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with six golds and one bronze .He earned a bronze medal in the team event at the FIS Ski-Flying World...
and Gregor Schlierenzauer
Gregor Schlierenzauer
Gregor Schlierenzauer - Schlieri is an Austrian ski jumper. He began his senior career in 2005–06 with one win and three additional podiums in the Ski Jumping Grand Prix, and made his World Cup debut in 2005—06 World Cup...
. Adding the 10 km mass start, the Nordic combined format was changed from 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen to 10 km individual large hill (aka Large hill Gundersen) and 10 km individual normal hill (aka Normal hill Gundersen), respectively. Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
's Andrus Veerpalu
Andrus Veerpalu
Andrus Veerpalu is a former and so far the most successful Estonian male cross country skier.On 17 February 2006 he won his second Winter Olympics gold medal , becoming the fourth Estonian to have won two Olympic gold medals Andrus Veerpalu (born 8 February 1971 in Pärnu) is a former and so far...
became the oldest gold medalist at 38 when he won gold in the men's 15 km event. Despite concern over the lack of snowfall that plagued event preparation prior to the championships, the championships themselves had an abundance of snowfall and wind that caused the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined mass start to be postponed for a day and the ski jumping individual large hill competition to be limited to one jump.
Attendance was between 180,000 and 200,000, twice the number at the previous championships in Sapporo, but 35 to 40 percent lower than the 2005 championships in Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in southwest Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps.At the center of Oberstdorf is a church whose tall spire serves as a landmark for navigating around town. The summits of the Nebelhorn and Fellhorn provide...
. FIS
International Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
President Gian Franco Kasper commented at the closing ceremonies of the 15 nations earning medals at these championships, along with the successes of the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
coverage by Czech TV and the success of the women's ski jumping at these championships would pave the way for inclusion into the 2014 Winter Olympics
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...
. A broadcast report from the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
released on 4 June 2009 had total viewership of 666 million global viewers, higher than that of the 2005 championships and the 2001 championships.
Competition format changes
The initial schedule for the competition was approved at the FIS Council meeting in PortorožPortorož
- External links :**...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
during the weekend of 25–28 May 2007. Women's ski jumping became an official event for the first time at these championships on the normal hill which took place 20 February. This was approved at the May 2006 FIS Congress in Vilamoura
Vilamoura
Vilamoura is in the municipality of Loulé, in the Algarve, Portugal. Its boundaries lie within the parish of Quarteira. Vilamoura is a purpose built resort and Marina which was started from scratch by a wealthy banker from Porto, Cupertino de Miranda. The resort was started in 1974 and is still...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Cross country skiing events had its classical interval start events adjusted to include a 5 km qualification event for women and a 10 km qualification for men for the women's 10 km and men's 15 km event with the top 20 finishers in each qualification advancing to the main events. These events took place 18–20 February. Nordic combined had the greatest changes in it schedule with the debut of the 10 km mass start that was also approved at the 2006 Congress in Vilamoura, and the replacement of the 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen events with two separate 10 km individual events. The first event, replacing the 15 km Gundersen, was a single jump from the individual normal hill followed by a 10 km cross country event using the Gundersen system while the second event, replacing the 7.5 km sprint, was a single jump from the individual large hill followed by a 10 km cross country event also using the Gundersen system. The Nordic combined changes were approved at an autumn seasonal meeting in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the week of 29 September 2008. Other changes listed in the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined team event was only one jump and being listed was the point-time differential at 1 point equaling 1.33 seconds.
2004 – June 2007
The host of the 2009 World championships was awarded at the 2004 FISInternational Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
Congress in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 3 June 2004. The opposing candidate city to Liberec was Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Norwegian Ski President Sverre Seeberg stated to the Norwegian press before the voting started that he "thought it would be a close call, but not as close for FIS President Kasper to use his deciding vote." The fact this was the fourth time in a row that Liberec applied for the championships, and that is was almost 40 years since it last was arranged in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
(1970 in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia) might give Liberec an advantage, according to Seeberg.
Liberec was selected 11–4 over Oslo, and since there were 17 FIS members, Kasper did not vote. Seeberg was ineligible to vote, even though he served in place of the late Jan Jensen. The Oslo committee quickly announced after the loss that they would apply for the 2011 championships, which they got awarded two years later.
Prior to being awarded the World championships in 2004, Liberec had hosted a total of 40 cross country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping competitions though it had not hosted a cross country World Cup event by June 2005. At a 24–25 May 2005 meeting, a report was given by the Liberec committee to the FIS race directors on course inspection, including layout of the courses. On 10 May 2006, a coordination group meeting was held led by Roman Kumpošt, the first organizing committee chair, regarding venue construction, television production, and construction within Liberec itself in preparation for the championships. A coordination meeting took place in Liberec 18–19 April 2007 to discuss venue information and event preparation.
July - December 2007
Czech cross country skier and six-time Winter Olympic medalist Kateřina NeumannováKaterina Neumannová
Kateřina Neumannová is a retired Czech cross country skier. She was a flatwater canoeist and downhill skier before moving to cross country skiing at sixteen...
was originally an honorary vice president of the organizing committee. On 25 July 2007, Neumannová was appointed as the new president of the organizing committee as approved by the organizing committee, replacing Kumpošt. She also served as a World Cup organizer for the second of the Tour de Ski
Tour de Ski
Tour de Ski is a cross-country skiing event held annually since 2007 in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Races have been held in the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy over eight days. The prize money for the event amounted to 1,055,000 Swiss francs , shared out on both men...
events that took place in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
on 30 December 2007. During the week of 13 August 2007, a delegation visited the FIS headquarters in Oberhofen, Switzerland
Oberhofen, Switzerland
Oberhofen was a municipality in the district of Laufenburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Hottwil, Etzgen, Mettau, Oberhofen and Wil merged into the municipality of Mettauertal....
and met with FIS President Kasper. This delegation included Liberec Mayor Jiří Kittner
Jirí Kittner
Jiří Kittner is a Czech politician who has served as mayor of Liberec since 2000.A native of Liberec, Kittner earned his degrees in automotive and electronic technology. In 1982, he became chair of the economic school in Prague. By 1991, he ran a commercial bank, then joined an economic firm in 1994...
, Organizing Committee Secretary Marek Rejman, Czech Ski Association President Lukáš Sobotka, and its General Secretary Norbert Pelc, and all four confirmed the work toward the sites used for the championships were proceeding as planned with test events that occurred in February 2008. Financing issues for the event were also clarified. The next scheduled update occurred at the FIS Autumn Meeting in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
during the week of 24 September 2007. Progress was given by Organizing President Neumannová and Executive Director Marek Rejman while at Zurich, including updates on the venues (shown in the next section), and focused on the sports organization (including the technical directors); and the marketing and promotion of the test events. Liberec had also confirmed their support of the governmental financing for the university campus which served as the village for the teams in 2009.
2008
FIS President Kasper stated that the first test weekend of 8–9 February 2008 "went well" in terms of sports organization. Kasper also expressed concerns about the cost for accommodation for skiing officials and media for the upcoming events. A spring coordination meeting was held the week of 7 April 2008 that discussed preparations for the event. Among the participants were FIS, the EBU, and marketing partner APF, whom focused on lessons learned from the test events held in February 2008. Coordination group members were pleased in what transpired during the February 2008 test events, including an athletes village that was constructed at the local university. Final competition schedule was confirmed by the FIS Council in its May 2008 meeting in Cape Town, followed by a final inspection on 13 October 2008. Following the final inspection that day, a six hour press conference was held on the status of preparations. Detailed reports were given on the test events held in February 2008 and the lessons learned from them. FIS President Kasper expressed his support of the organizing committee's efforts to present the best championships ever. Neumannová stated that the cross country skiing facility at Vesec was ready while the ski jumping facility at Ještěd was ready in the fall once construction of the access road and surrounding area was complete. The main concern of Neumannová's was the weather given the problems with the test events in February and the need for snow making equipment. The Czech government gave the organizing committee an additional CZK 189 million (€Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
7.3 million) in financial support. At the end of 2008, the championships were the biggest sports event in the history of the Czech Republic. On 16 December 2008, FIS Secretary General Lewis, FIS Event and Sponsor Manager Niklas Carlsson, Neumannová, and other key Organizing Committee staff met to discuss promotional activities for the event, including ceremonies, social events, and the accreditation system. That same day, an entire inspection of the team village took place at the Technical University of Liberec
Technical University of Liberec
The Technical University of Liberec is a public university in Liberec, Czech Republic. Its roots lie in the Technical College of Mechanical Engineering, which was founded in 1953. The college was promoted to a university and took its current name in 1995...
where the entire complex was renovated. The students at the university left at the end of January 2009 for the teams to arrive on campus in mid-February.
2009
As of 21 January 2009, there were a total of 600 competitors from 59 nations, both Championship records. Neumannová stated that the area had about 70 centimetres (27.6 in) of snow at both testing areas. She also stated that Czech representatives had tested both Ještěd and Vesec and were satisfied with both areas. Free public transportation in Liberec and tram transfersTramway line between Liberec and Jablonec
The 12 km long tramway line between cities Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Republic is an intercity transportation system connecting these cities.-Overview:...
from the neighboring town of Jablonec nad Nisou
Jablonec nad Nisou
Jablonec nad Nisou is a town in northern Bohemia, the second largest town of the Liberec Region. It is known as a mountain resort in the Jizera Mountains, an education centre, and a centre of world-production of glass and jewellery...
were organized. Doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
programs that were successful at the previous World Championships in Sapporo continued with 78 EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
and 430 blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
testing on athletes in the 1–15 February period prior to the 2009 championships. 450 pre-competition blood tests were conducted with the top four finishers plus two randomly selected athletes of each event, totalling 120 for the championships. These tests were conducted by the Czech National Anti-Doping Agency with assistance of the World Anti-Doping Agency
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the "Declaration of Lausanne", to promote, coordinate and...
. Testing costs for the program were CHF
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
1.5 million. As of 25 February, a total of 90,000 spectators had attended the championships. Prior to the championships, there was concern of the lack of snowfall during the championships. During the championships, there was continuing snowfall. On 23 February, Czech Republic Senate Parliament chair
Senate of the Czech Republic
The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...
Přemysl Sobotka
Premysl Sobotka
Přemysl Sobotka is a Czech physician and politician. He was a President of the Senate and ceremonially the second highest representative of the country.-Early life:...
presented FIS President Kasper with a silver commemorative medal of the Senate for his merits in the development of world skiing. Kasper lead the FIS delegation to this ceremony that took place in Liberec with Sobotka which included FIS officials and representative of all 61 teams. Included in this delegation were Milan Jirasek, FIS Council Member and Chair of the Czech Olympic Committee
Czech Republic at the Olympics
The Czech Republic first participated at the Olympic Games as an independent nation in 1994, and has competed in every Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games since then...
, and Neumannová
Media accreditation and television coverage
Media accreditation was available online until 17 October 2008. TelevisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
coverage was provided by Czech Television
Ceská televize
Česká televize is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.- Czechoslovak Television :Television in Czechoslovakia started to take its first steps before World War II. However, before visible results could be achieved, all activities were interrupted by...
(CT), the host broadcaster. CT expected to produce over 60 hours of international coverage with a total of 54 TV cameras connected to 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) of cables. Over 1500 international media were onsite for the event. A total of 771 cumulative broadcast hours took place during the championship event, 70.3% shown live with the rest being tape-delayed. 17 national broadcasters televised the championships along with 69 Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
and Eurosport Asia-Pacific nations., resulting in a total of 666 million global viewers The top events with the greatest naitional live audience was the men's ski jumping individual large and normal hill event from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's TVP1 with 5.0 and 4.4 million viewers respectively. Germany's ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
had the 2nd highest national event ratings with 4.0 million viewers for the ski jumping men's team large hill event.
Mascot
The mascot was announced by the Organizing Committee during the week of 30 June 2008. It was a lionLion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
named Libi and it made its first appearance in the Czech Republic with Neumannová and Czech Republic prime minister Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek is a former prime minister of the Czech Republic and former President of the European Council. A member of the Civic Democratic Party, he was chairman of the center-right party between November 2002 and March 2010, succeeding Václav Klaus, who was elected President in 2003.On 24...
at a meeting that same week.
Social programs
Among the social programs involved during the event were the opening ceremonies at the Tipsport arena. Included were musical performances from the EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock band Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, who performed at the opening ceremony 18 February, and the Slovak
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
band Elán
Elán (band)
Elán is a Slovak pop-rock band, founded in 1969 by Jožo Ráž, Juraj Farkaš, Vašo Patejdl and Zdeno Baláž. It became one of the most popular Czechoslovak bands during the 1980s. In 1993, the group represented Slovakia in the preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest but having finished in...
, who performed on 20 February. Concerts took place on the Liberec main square where medal award ceremonies occurred. In addition, there were special themed days, including Italian Day, Czech Day, Norwegian Day and Slovak Day. One recurring theme of this was free beer for people from these countries in some pubs at happy hour. The most famous fans at the championships were the Norwegians, who were very numerous compared with the other countries.
World Cup discipline leaders prior to the World Championships
As of 15 February 2009, the top three World Cup positions were as follows:| Men | Leader | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nordic combined 2008–09 Nordic Combined World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is an international winter sports competition organized by the FIS, consisting of combined ski jumping and cross country skiing. It began in Kuusamo on 29 November 2008. It was won by Anssi Koivuranta from Finland. Hannu Manninen retired before the season... |
|||
| Ski jumping 2008–09 Ski Jumping World Cup The 2008–09 Ski Jumping World Cup was the 30th World Cup season in history. It began on 29 November 2008 at the Rukatunturi ski jumping hill in Kuusamo, Finland, and finished on 22 March 2009 at Planica, Slovenia.... |
|||
| Cross-Country, Overall 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
|||
| Cross-Country, Distance 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
|||
| Cross-Country, Sprint 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
|||
| Women | Leader | Second | Third |
| Cross-Country, Overall 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
|||
| Cross-Country, Distance 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
|||
| Cross-Country, Sprint 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup The 2008–09 FIS Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. The season began on 22 November 2008 with 15 km freestyle races for women in Gällivare, won by Charlotte Kalla of Sweden... |
Cross-country skiing's Tour de Ski
Tour de Ski
Tour de Ski is a cross-country skiing event held annually since 2007 in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Races have been held in the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy over eight days. The prize money for the event amounted to 1,055,000 Swiss francs , shared out on both men...
winners were Finland's Virpi Kuitunen
Virpi Kuitunen
Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo is a Finnish cross country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games...
for the women and Cologna for the men; both got 400 World Cup points for their respective TdS victories. Loitzl won Ski jumping's Four Hills Tournament
Four Hills Tournament
The Four Hills Tournament is composed of four Ski Jumping World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1952.The Four Hills Tournament champion is the one who gets the most points over the four events...
.
Participants
589 athletes from 61 countries were entered to compete for the championships. These include 239 men and 155 women from 60 countries in cross country skiing, 77 athletes from 18 countries in Nordic combined, and 79 athletes from 22 countries in ski jumping. Additionally, 39 women from 13 countries competed in the premiere world championship ski jumping event. FIS President Kaspar hoped that the women's ski jumping event did well enough for inclusion in the 2014 Winter Olympics in SochiSochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Venues
Vesec (Liberec)
Vesec is the 25th of the 35 districts of the city of Liberec, Czech Republic. Located in the south of Liberec, it was used for the 2009 Nordic World Ski Championship for the cross-country skiing events, after a temporary course was especially built....
(cross country skiing) and both venues were used as test events for the upcoming World Cup season. Organizing Committee chair Kumpošt stated that both venues would be completed by fall 2007 in order to ensure FIS certification. Also in attendance was the EBU and the organizing committee for the 2011 Championships in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. Snowfall that started on 17 November 2008 made it possible to produce man-made snow for the event, according to Vesec cross country skiing venue manager Robert Heczko. In ideal conditions, fourteen days of snow production were required to create the needed 60000 cubic metres (2,118,880 cu ft) of snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
to ensure coverage of all competition courses at Vesec. Over 20 snow cannons were used in the snow-making process when temperatures dip below freezing according to Heczko.
Cross country skiing
Astrid Jacobsen
Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen is a Norwegian cross-country skier. She skis with the IL Heming club in Oslo, near Holmenkollen...
while the winner of the 15 km men's event was Jean Marc Gaillard
Jean Marc Gaillard
Jean Marc Gaillard is a French cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. His best finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was 7th in the 50 km event at Sapporo in 2007...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Team sprint winners on the 17th were both from Norway with the ladies going to Marit Bjørgen
Marit Bjørgen
Marit Bjørgen is a Norwegian cross country skier and triple olympic champion from Midtre Gauldal, Norway. Bjørgen is the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country World Cup history, with twenty-four victories. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with forty-eight...
and Astrid Jacobsen and the men going to Martin Johnsrud Sundby
Martin Johnsrud Sundby
Martin Johnsrud Sundby is a Norwegian cross country skier who has competed since 2003. He won the team sprint event at the test event in Liberec, Czech Republic on February 17, 2008....
and Simen Østensen
Simen Østensen
Simen Østensen is a Norwegian cross-country skier. He skies with the club Fossum IF.He finished third in the 2006-07 Tour de Ski...
Snow was lacking at the cross-country course as of 16 December 2008, but organizers were ready for expected cold temperatures from Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
2008 onward to prepare the courses for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, about 50000 cubic metres (1,765,733.3 cu ft) of snow had been produced using between 20 and 27 snow guns and two snow lances. Tracks were groomed, widen, and maintained in preparation of the Slavic Cup (Czech Republic, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
) events that took place the weekend of 17–18 January 2009. Courses were covered with snow of 50 centimetres (19.7 in) as of 11 February 2009. Snow reserves guaranteed the best conditions even if warm weather hit the Jizera Mountains. Closing ceremonies of the championships were held at Vesec.
Ski jumping
The ski jumping venue took place at JeštědJešted
Ještěd is the highest mountain peak of the Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge near Liberec in the north of the Czech Republic. From the summit there are views into Germany and Poland...
which has two hills that were already to FIS specifications. The normal hill size (HS) was 100 m (HS100) while the large hill size was 134 m (HS134). Both hills were used for FIS ski jumping World Cup venues with Finnish ski jumper Janne Ahonen
Janne Ahonen
Janne Petteri Ahonen is a former Finnish ski jumper who has competed in the world cup between 1992-2011. A legendary ski jumper, he is widely considered one of the best and most successful athletes in the history of the sport...
holding the record jump of 139 m on the HS134 hill in 2004. Modifications were done to the outrun and data was gathered on the wind flow within the ski jumping area from January to March for 2006 to 2009. At the fall 2007 meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007, it was announced by the Organizing Committee that construction was proceeding according to schedule, with completion in mid-December 2007. The test event for Jested took place on 8–9 February 2008. A grandstand of 10,000 spectators was constructed in order to have night time ski jumping the weekend of 9–10 February 2008. The hill suffered a landslide caused by continuous rainfall around the hill during the week of 28 January 2008, but the outrun was not affected by the event, according to Liberec mayor Jiri Kittner. On 1 February, Neumannová stated that the ski jumping events took place as scheduled. The lift to the ski jump that was not working during the FIS World Cup B Nordic combined event in January was fixed. The winners of the ski jumping test event at the HS134 hill were Thomas Morgenstern
Thomas Morgenstern
Thomas Morgenstern is an Austrian ski jumper. Having won the world cup twice, the Four Hills Tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, the Grand Prix three times, and 12 gold medals at world championships and Olympic games, he is one of the most successful contemporary jumpers.- Career...
of Austria on 8 February and Anders Jacobsen
Anders Jacobsen (ski jumper)
Anders Jacobsen is a Norwegian ski jumper, representing Ringkollen Skiklubb, and the youngest Norwegian to have won the Four Hills Tournament. He has competed since 2003.-Early career:...
of Norway on 9 February. An Alpen Cup competition took place on the weekend of 20–21 December 2008 to have final test procedures and infrastructure for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, the main grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
was complete while the teams worked on proper shaping of the hills for use. The large hill was closed while the normal hill was designated for ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete training. Further construction during the week of 19 January 2009 included spectator stairs on the side of the hill, mobile containers for the athletes and their service teams; and a spectator catering
Catering
Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...
tent was set up.
Nordic combined
The nordic combinedNordic combined
The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping.- History :While Norwegian soldiers are known to have been competing in Nordic skiing since the 19th century, the first major competition in Nordic combined was held in 1892 in Oslo at the...
events used both venues listed for cross country skiing and ski jumping. The test event for Nordic combined occurred during the weekend of 15–17 February 2008. Because of the lack of snow and warm weather prior to the test event, the schedule for the test event was adjusted to the sprint event on 15 February, the Gundersen event on 16 February, and the sprint qualification event on 17 February. The sprint event on 15 February was cancelled to changing winds. Meanwhile the Gundersen event on 16 February was changed to a mass start event won by Norway's Petter Tande
Petter Tande
Petter Laukslett Tande is a Norwegian nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2002, representing Byåsen IL...
. Two unsuccessful attempts at the ski jumping part of the sprint qualification event to high winds on the 17th resulted in the event's cancellation. A World Cup event leading up to the championships was to have taken place 13–14 December 2008 in the 10 km individual large hill event as a test event, but was cancelled on 6 December 2008 to warm weather and lack of snow. Neumannová stated that they had a second plan in getting snow from the Jizerske mountains higher elevations where there were better conditions for snowing. 10000 cubic metres (353,146.7 cu ft) of snow at Bedřichov and Albrechtice
Albrechtice v Jizerských horách
Albrechtice v Jizerských horách is a village in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It is located about northeast of Jablonec nad Nisou and has a population of 340 ....
were prepared for two nights. The third plan proposed two large parking places in the Krkonoše Mountains with natural snow collected for use in the Vesec area. Neumannová assured everyone "that the entire team is working very hard in order to deliver a successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championships." and could not wait to "welcome all the teams, the international media, our guest, and of course, thousands of fans to Liberec in February."
Tipsport arena
The Tipsport ArenaTipsport Arena
The Tipsport Arena is an indoor sporting arena located in Liberec, Czech Republic, sponsored by gambling firm Tipsport. The capacity of the arena is 7,500 people and was built in 2005. It is currently home to the HC Bílí Tygři Liberec ice hockey team. It hosted matches from Group B and the...
in Liberec was used as the operational center for the championships. This included accreditation for the athletes, location of the organizing committee support staff, an international media center, and individual race offices. It also served as the site for the opening ceremonies of the championships.
Cross country skiing
Medal table – men's cross country skiing
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual sprint freestyle | 24 February | |||
| Team sprint classical | 25 February | Ola Vigen Hattestad Ola Vigen Hattestad Ola Vigen Hattestad is a Norwegian cross country skier who has competed since 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, hea earned his best finish of fourth in the individual sprint event at Vancouver in 2010.... Johan Kjølstad Johan Kjølstad Johan Kjølstad is a Norwegian cross country skier who has competed since 2002.Born in Levanger, he represents the sports club Skogn IL.... |
Axel Teichmann Axel Teichmann Axel Teichmann is a German cross-country skier.- Background :... Tobias Angerer Tobias Angerer Tobias Angerer is a German cross country skier, and skies with the SC Vachendorf club. He graduated from the Skigymnasium Berchtesgaden in 1996. His occupation is "Sports Soldier"... |
Sami Jauhojärvi Sami Jauhojärvi Sami Jauhojärvi is a Finnish cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. His best finish at the Winter Olympics was fifth in the 4 x 10 km relay at Vancouver in 2010.... Ville Nousiainen Ville Nousiainen Ville Nousiainen is a Finnish cross country skier who has been competing since 2002. He finished fifth in the 4 x 10 km event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.... |
| 15 km classical interval start | 20 February | |||
| 15 km + 15 km double pursuit | 22 February | |||
| 50 km freestyle mass start | 1 March | |||
| 4 x 10 km relay | 27 February | Eldar Rønning Eldar Rønning Eldar Rønning is a Norwegian cross-country skier. He skis with the Skogn IL club, in Nord-Trøndelag. He's 178 cm tall and weighs 73 kg . He skis with Rossignol boots and skis, and Rottefella bindings.In 2004/05, he achieved three podium finishes in World Cup Sprint events, including a win at Reit... Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset is a Norwegian cross-country skier who has competed since 1993.A classical technique specialist, Hjelmeset's biggest success is the gold medal in the 50 km event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 in Sapporo... Tore Ruud Hofstad Tore Ruud Hofstad Tore Ruud Hofstad is a Norwegian cross-country skier who competed from 1998 to 2010. A freestyle specialist, Hofstad is best noted as a member of the Norwegian relay team during three successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championship campaigns... Petter Northug Petter Northug Petter Northug Jr. is a Norwegian cross country skier and double Olympic champion. He has 9 World Championship and Winter Olympic gold medals with 13 medals overall, and nine individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 20 podium places... |
Jens Filbrich Jens Filbrich Jens Filbrich is a German cross-country skier who has been competing since 1998. He won two medals in the 4 x 10 km relay at the Winter Olympics with a silver in 2006 and a bronze in 2002... Tobias Angerer Tobias Angerer Tobias Angerer is a German cross country skier, and skies with the SC Vachendorf club. He graduated from the Skigymnasium Berchtesgaden in 1996. His occupation is "Sports Soldier"... Franz Göring Franz Göring Franz Göring is a German cross country skier who has been competing since 2002. He won a silver medal in the 4 x 10 km event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and had his best individual finish of sixth in the 15 km at the 2007 championships in Sapporo.Göring also... Axel Teichmann Axel Teichmann Axel Teichmann is a German cross-country skier.- Background :... |
Matti Heikkinen Matti Heikkinen Matti Heikkinen is a Finnish cross country skier and World Champion who has competed since 2002. Heikkinen won his first World Championship at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Holmenkollen 2011. Winning 15 km, he is the first Finnish men's World Champion for over a decade... Sami Jauhojärvi Sami Jauhojärvi Sami Jauhojärvi is a Finnish cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. His best finish at the Winter Olympics was fifth in the 4 x 10 km relay at Vancouver in 2010.... Teemu Kattilakoski Teemu Kattilakoski Teemu Kattilakoski is a Finnish cross country skier who has been competing since 1996. His best finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was sixth in the 4 x 10 km event in 2007 while his best individual finish was eighth in the 50 km event in 2003.Kattilakoski's best individual finish at... Ville Nousiainen Ville Nousiainen Ville Nousiainen is a Finnish cross country skier who has been competing since 2002. He finished fifth in the 4 x 10 km event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.... |
Medal table – women's cross country skiing
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual sprint freestyle | 24 February | |||
| Team sprint classical | 25 February | Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo is a Finnish cross country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games... Aino-Kaisa Saarinen |
Anna Olsson Anna Dahlberg Anna Olsson is a Swedish cross-country skier who competed from 1996 to 2010. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won a gold medal in the team sprint at Turin in 2006.Olsson also won a silver medal in the team sprint event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec... Lina Andersson Lina Andersson Lina Andersson is a Swedish cross country skier who has competed since 1998. She won a gold medal in the Team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and also finished 11th in the Individual sprint in those same games.Andersson also won three medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships... |
Arianna Follis Arianna Follis Arianna Follis is an Italian cross country skier who started competing in 1995. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km at Turin in 2006.... Marianna Longa Marianna Longa Marianna Longa is an Italian cross country skier from Livigno. She started the professional career in 1997, and the first appearance in a world cup race was March 17, 2000 in Bormio. Longa is currently part of the Fiamme Gialle, and the Italian cross country national team. Marianna is also a... |
| 10 km classical interval start | 19 February | |||
| 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit | 21 February | |||
| 30 km freestyle mass start | 28 February | |||
| 4 x 5 km relay | 26 February | Pirjo Muranen Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo is a Finnish cross country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games... Riitta-Liisa Roponen Aino-Kaisa Saarinen |
Katrin Zeller Katrin Zeller Katrin Zeller is a German cross country skier who has competed since 1997. She won a silver medal in the 4 x 5 km relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.... Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle is a German cross country skier from Reit im Winkl who has competed since 1998... Miriam Gössner Miriam Gössner Miriam Gössner is a German-Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier. Noted for her fast skiing performances, she won two junior world championship titles in biathlon in 2008 and 2009... Claudia Künzel-Nystad |
Lina Andersson Lina Andersson Lina Andersson is a Swedish cross country skier who has competed since 1998. She won a gold medal in the Team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and also finished 11th in the Individual sprint in those same games.Andersson also won three medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships... Britta Norgren Britta Norgren Britta Johanna Helena Johansson Norgren is a Swedish cross country skier who has been competed since 2002. She won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec... Anna Haag Anna Haag Anna Margret Haag is a Swedish cross-country skier who has been competing since 2003. She won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec.... Charlotte Kalla Charlotte Kalla Charlotte Kalla is a Swedish cross-country skier who has been competing since 2004. She won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km relay at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec... |
Men's Nordic combined
The United States was the big winner at these championships with four medals. Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong each won two medals with two golds for Lodwick (10 km individual normal hill, 10 km mass start), and a gold (10 km individual large hill) and a bronze (10 km individual normal hill) for Demong. Demong's disqualification in the ski jumping part of the 4 x 5 team event led to the United States withdrawal from the cross country part of the event. This led to a surprise gold medal for the Japanese in the team event, their first at the world championships in this event since 1995.Medal table
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 km individual normal hill | 22 February | |||
| 10 km individual large hill | 28 February | |||
| 10 km mass start | 20 February | |||
| 4 x 5 km freestyle team | 26 February | Yusuke Minato Yusuke Minato is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2002. He won a gold medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and earned his best individual finish of sixth in the 10 km individual normal hill event at those same... Taihei Kato Taihei Kato is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2003. He won a gold medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and earned his best individual finish of 27th twice .At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Kato finished sixth in... Akito Watabe Akito Watabe is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2005. He won a gold medal in the 4 × 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and earned his best individual finish of 31st in the 7.5 km sprint at Sapporo in 2007.Competing in two... Norihito Kobayashi Norihito Kobayashi is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2000. He won a gold medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and earned his best individual finish of fifth in the 10 km individual normal hill at those same... |
Ronny Ackermann Ronny Ackermann Ronny Ackermann is a successful German Nordic combined skier.Ackermann started to learn to ski when he was five years old and took up ski-jumping two years later. As of 2004, he belongs to the team of Rhöner WSV Dermbach... Eric Frenzel Eric Frenzel Eric Frenzel is a German Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2000... Björn Kircheisen Björn Kircheisen Björn Kircheisen is a nordic combined athlete from Germany who has competed since 2000... Tino Edelmann Tino Edelmann Tino Edelmann is a German Nordic combined skier who has competed since 2001. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.... |
Mikko Kokslien Mikko Kokslien Mikko Kokslien is a Norwegian Nordic combined skier.He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and earned his best individual finish of 13th in the 10 km individual large hill at those same championships.At the 2010 Winter... Petter Tande Petter Tande Petter Laukslett Tande is a Norwegian nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2002, representing Byåsen IL... Jan Schmid Jan Schmid Jan Schmid is a Norwegian nordic combined skier, of Swiss origin. He won two medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec with a silver in the 10 km individual normal hill event and a bronze in the 4 x 5 km team event... Magnus Moan Magnus Moan Magnus Hovdal Moan born 26 August 1983 in Lillehammer, Norway; is a Norwegian nordic combined skier who has competed since 2002. Magnus moved from Lillehammer when he was two years old and has lived in Trondheim ever since. He skis with the Byåsen IL club. When he is not training or competing Moan... |
Ski jumping
Women's ski jumping debuted at these championships which was won by American Lindsay Van. She was also the first North American to medal in ski jumping and the first American woman to medal at the championships. One the men's side, Austria was the big winner with three medals and two each for Wolfgang Loitzl (golds in men's individual normal hill and team large hill events) and Gregor Schlierenzauer (gold in team large hill and silver in individual normal hill events). Both Loitzl and Schlierenzauer, World Cup leaders prior to the championships, joined Switzerland's Simon Ammann in the podium of the individual normal hill event. Ammann's teammate Andreas Küttel won gold in the individual large hill event in which only one jump was performed to unstable weather conditions. Norway also won three medals in the championships with a silver in the team large hill and bronzes from Anders Jacobsen (individual large hill) and Anette Sagen (women's individual normal hill).Medal table – men's ski jumping
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual normal (HS100) hill | 21 February | |||
| Individual large (HS134) hill | 27 February | |||
| Team large (HS134) hill | 28 February | Wolfgang Loitzl Wolfgang Loitzl Wolfgang "Wuff" Loitzl is an Austrian ski jumper who has competed since 1997. He won seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with six golds and one bronze .He earned a bronze medal in the team event at the FIS Ski-Flying World... Martin Koch Martin Koch (ski jumper) Martin "Mascht" Koch is a ski jumper from Austria.A competitor since 1999, he has finished in the Top 3 in all ski jumping events eighteen times, including two victories with the first being on January 8, 2011 in Harrachov... Thomas Morgenstern Thomas Morgenstern Thomas Morgenstern is an Austrian ski jumper. Having won the world cup twice, the Four Hills Tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, the Grand Prix three times, and 12 gold medals at world championships and Olympic games, he is one of the most successful contemporary jumpers.- Career... Gregor Schlierenzauer Gregor Schlierenzauer Gregor Schlierenzauer - Schlieri is an Austrian ski jumper. He began his senior career in 2005–06 with one win and three additional podiums in the Ski Jumping Grand Prix, and made his World Cup debut in 2005—06 World Cup... |
Anders Bardal Anders Bardal Anders Bardal is a Norwegian ski jumper who has competed since 2001. He won two silver medals in the team large hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships... Tom Hilde Tom Hilde Tom Hilde is a Norwegian ski jumper who has competed since 2005. Having first competed with the Norwegian World Cup team in 2006, he won two silver medals in the team large hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships .Hilde also won a bronze medal in the team event at the FIS Ski-Flying... Johan Remen Evensen Johan Remen Evensen Johan Remen Evensen is a Norwegian ski jumper from Molde. A late bloomer, Evensen made his World Cup debut during the 2008–09 season at age 23, and earned a place in the Norwegian World Cup team following consecutive top-12 finishes at Granåsen... Anders Jacobsen Anders Jacobsen (ski jumper) Anders Jacobsen is a Norwegian ski jumper, representing Ringkollen Skiklubb, and the youngest Norwegian to have won the Four Hills Tournament. He has competed since 2003.-Early career:... |
Shohhei Tochimoto Shohhei Tochimoto is a Japanese ski jumper who has been competing since 2004. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, he won two bronze medals in the team large hill .As of 2007, his best World Cup finish is 6th at Kuusamo in 2009... Takanobu Okabe Takanobu Okabe is a Japanese ski jumper who has competed in the ski jumping World Cup since 1990.His debut World Cup performance was on December 16, 1989 in Sapporo and at the moment he is the oldest ski jumper in a world of ski jumping... Daiki Ito Daiki Ito is a Japanese ski jumper who has competed since 2002. He won two bronze medals in the team large hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships .... Noriaki Kasai Noriaki Kasai , born June 6, 1972 in Shimokawa, Hokkaidō, Japan, is a Japanese ski jumper.Kasai holds a record for most performances in World Cup. To a date of March 23, 2011 he performed record 435 times in World Cup... |
Medal table – women's ski jumping
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual normal (HS100) hill | 20 February |
Closing ceremonies
At the closing ceremonies of the championships, FIS President Kasper expressed great satisfaction with the championships, stating that it was the first time that a nation without any successful national favorites (The Czech won only one medal, a silver by Bauer in the men's 15 km) had organized such a successful championship. According to Kasper, attendance reached between 180,000 and 200,000 in the 12 days of competition. The lack of snowfall concerns prior to the championships were more than made up for with continuous snowfall though that affected spectators and competitors alike. Praise was given by Kasper both to the venue managers and Czech TV for their efforts in their successful championships. 15 different nations reached the podium at the championships noted Kasper. Kasper also state the success of the women's ski jumping event will hopefully push the International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
to include the event for the 2014 Games in Sochi with a possible team event as well. Concerning the Nordic combined 10 km mass start, Kasper stated that the event will be thoroughly analyzed as part of an overall season assessment as part of the discipline's current overhaul. Finally, Kasper wished everyone the best and looked forward to seeing everyone at Oslo for the next Nordic World Ski Championships.
Post-event information
The organizing committee for the 2009 championships met in Oslo with the organizing committee of the 2011 championships on 20 April 2009 to discuss lessons learned. In the presentation was a comprehensive and frank analysis of the critical areas of Liberec's organization. Key success factors were detailed and lessons learned were elaborated, including several recommendations to both the 2011 championships and the organizing committee for the 2013 championshipsFIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 will take place in Val di Fiemme, Italy for the third time, the event having been hosted there previously in 1991 and 2003.-Selection process:...
in Val di Fiemme
Val di Fiemme
thumb|300px|Location of the Fiemme Valley in [[Trentino]].thumb|300px|The [[Lagorai]] seen from [[Passo Lusia]].Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region in northern Italy located in the Dolomites mountain region....
, Italy. Besides the 2009, 2011, and 2013 organizing committees in attendance, other attendees included the Norwegian Ski Federation
Norwegian Ski Federation
The Norwegian Ski Federation or Norges Skiforbund, is an organization devoted to skiing in Norway. Headquartered in Oslo, it is the national representative of the International Ski Federation....
, the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
television, FIS, and the APF marketing partners.
Of the 73 skiers who won medals at these championships, 34 of them would medal at the Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
the following year. Three of the skiers who won the world championships in their respective events, Bill Demong in the nordic combined 10 km individual large hill, Justyna Kowalczyk in the cross-country skiing women's 30 km, and Petter Northug in the cross-country skiing men's 50 km, would win Olympic gold in those same events.
Top nations
Medal winners by nation.| 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 9 | |
| 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total medals awarded | 20 | 20 | 20 | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Top athletes
All athletes with two or more medals.| 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
External links
- Official website , , &
- Competition schedule
- RESULTS from FISInternational Ski FederationThe International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
-ski.com