Cross-country skiing and Britain. It’s a combination that sounds quite strange. Despite this, the male skier who is currently fifth overall in the World Cup comes from Britain.
Andrew Musgrave has made a steady mark, especially on 10-kilometer distances: he was fifth in the traditional race in Ruka, fourth in the free race in Lillehammer and third in the traditional race in Beitostölen. In addition to Musgrave, points have clicked Andrew Young, Joe Davies and James Clugnetwho was sixth in the Davos sprint.
And the British situation can’t even be blamed on the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) point change, where points are distributed instead of 30 to 50, because only Davies has received his points with the new system.
According to Musgrave, the British secret is Norway.
– If it wasn’t for Norway, I would never have reached this level. It has been vital, Musgrave said.
Born in England, Musgrave, 32, lived in Alaska for six years as a child because of his father’s work, where he learned to ski. However, he learned to compete in Scotland, at the local Huntly ski club.
The young skier had potential, because while skiing his last year in juniors, he finished ninth in the freestyle at the World Championships. The Norwegian coaches at the games lured Musgrave to the mecca of skiing, and he decided to try his wings.
– I thought I would ski in Norway for a year and then go back to a good university in Britain, grow up and get a real job, but I turned out to be pretty good, Musgrave said.
– I moved to Norway and loved it – and stayed there.
In Britain, especially in Scotland, there is enough snow, but only from time to time. It is the uncertainty that makes it difficult to enjoy skiing, because every year there is not enough snow at least enough to make the slopes.
Although skiing has a strong history in Scandinavia, the British also have their own influence on the sport. The British were, among other things, giving birth to a cross-country skiing boom in Davos a hundred years ago. After this, however, they focused more on alpine skiing.
– They were smart for ten years, but then they chose the wrong direction, Musgrave laughed.
– I really don’t feel that we have a skiing tradition. I feel like we’re just building it and putting British skiing on the map. I hope we become a skiing nation.
Savings and synergy
The British ski team has been in trouble with funding, as UK Sport, which is responsible for funding, removed support from the team after last season. The Beijing Olympics were a disappointment for both UK Sport and the team.
Read also: The state played a rude trick on British skiers – Andrew Musgrave, who was shocked in Beitostölen, needs success in order to compete
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) strongly supports smaller countries, and it has been reflected in the number of participants in the competitions. FIS has again been criticized for the lack of support, but the British have received savings from cooperation with the Norwegian national team.
The team is based in Norway, Clugnet lives in Lillehammer, Musgrave and Young live in Trondheim. Only the newest member of the team lives outside of Norway, in Alaska.
The Norwegian head coach of the team Jostein Vinjeruin in my opinion, cooperation with bigger skiing countries or between smaller teams is vital and even the direction we should go.
– We cooperate with the Norwegian and Latvian federations. We have one Latvian skier (Patricija Eiduka) with us all winter, we take care of his skis and he gets support from us, Vinjeruin said.
The British team gets help from the Norwegian team with the maintenance of the skis and the costs, the British again give the Norwegians their own contribution to the testing.
Pasanen: Cooperation is one possibility
In Vinjerui’s opinion, the situation seen in Davos, where only 39 participants were seen in the women’s sprint race, was a bad advertisement for the sport. In his opinion, the situation could be helped by cooperation, in which case costs would be kept under control.
– Many ski countries could cooperate in a similar way, learn from others and save resources. Big skiing countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland apparently have no interest in this kind of thing, because the financial position of the federations is quite good.
Head coach of the Finnish team Teemu Pasanen doesn’t knock Vinjerui’s idea that big teams would take smaller ones under their wings.
So could Finland do that?
– It’s probably possible, and right now it’s already happening. Irish skier Thomas Maloney Westgaard is with the Swedish team a lot and Patricija Eiduka from Latvia is with the Norwegian team, Pasanen said.
– Cooperation has been done, and it may be one possibility to get them to stay involved.