will show the Salpauselkä races on its channels on March 24–26. See ‘s upcoming sports broadcasts from this link.
When the Skiing World Cup started in Ruka last November, the expectations for the season were clear: those who ski a lot of competitions will be more successful in the Cup than before.
The international skiing federation FIS changed the point calculation system for this season so that in the World Cup games points are awarded to the 50 best skiers instead of 30. The hundred points awarded only for a win remained unchanged for the top.
In Finnish terms, the main focus has been Kerttu in Niskasewho is tied for the overall victory in the World Cup of long-distance travel before the final race of the season, the 20 km joint start, to be skied on Sunday.
American Jessica Diggins can now be the only one to derail from the first place in the Niskanen distance cup. However, it is unlikely, because the final race will be held in traditional skiing. That is Niskanen’s strength and Diggins’ weakness.
Niskanen and Diggins are the only top skiers who have competed in all 16 distance races of the season. When the importance of contracting was already known in advance with the new scoring formula, it is no wonder that the duo decides the victory of the distance cup.
But how would things have been if the old point rule had been used?
As the attached table shows, Niskanen would lead the World Cup even with the old points calculation system.
The most significant difference between the new and the old is related to success – and more specifically, how much the weight of wins and prize positions has decreased since last season.
With the current rule, the number one woman of the season Ebba Andersson can only be found in ninth place, 346 points behind Niska. With the old point system, the difference would be only 129 points, even though Andersson has participated in only seven of the season’s 16 distance races.
Also Andersson’s earthy, Tour de Ski winner Frida Karlsson would be fourth in the points situation with the old calculation formula. The difference to Niskas would be 137 points instead of 324 points. Karlsson has participated in 11 races, i.e. five less than Niskanen.
The Swedes’ absences are due to illness. Even if Niskanen leads the distance cup also with the old way of calculating points, Urheilu’s expert Ville Nousiainen estimates that with the old system, Andersson or Karlsson would have competed differently than they do now.
– With the old way of calculating points, Karlsson and Andersson could have skied in Oslo or Falun, even by force, in order to stay in the battle for the Cup victory. But when the current system does not offer the possibility to make distinctions, competing as a convalescent is not meaningful, Nousiainen says when examining the data collected by Urheilu.
Andersson contracted the coronavirus right after the second weekend of the season and had to miss the Tour de Ski. The next period of illness occurred after the World Championships in Planica. Because of that, Andersson missed both the Oslo 50 kilometers and the Falun 10 kilometers. The same happened to Karlsson, who also missed the races after the Tour de Ski in France.
While on the starting line, Andersson has been sovereign compared to Niskase, who leads the Cup: Andersson’s head-to-head matches are 7–0, and including the World Cup, 10–0. Andersson’s average ranking in the Cup is 1.9, at Niskas it is 7.2.
– The best skier is not the one who skis the most races and does well. When an athlete is really sick for one weekend, after that it should be possible to take a break from competitions for at least the following weekend, so that the athlete can return to the competitions in as good a condition as possible. In that case, there should still be a chance to succeed in the cup, but this is not the case with Andersson or Karlsson, says Nousiainen.
If Niskanen stays healthy and avoids crashes in the last race in Lahti, on Sunday he will become the third Finn who has been able to win the distance cup in its current form, skied from the 2003-2004 season. Virpi Sarasvuo (nee Kuitunen) won the crystal ball twice in a row, in the seasons 2006–2008. Iivo Niskanen got a stick at the end of last season.
The value can be significant
FIS does not pay prize money for winning the distance cup, but skiers of star status can have clauses worth tens of thousands of euros in their personal sponsorship contracts when it comes to the crystal ball achieved from sub-discipline cups, i.e. sprint or distance distances.
On the other hand, FIS will allocate money from the overall World Cup competition to the 20 best women and men, a total of around 420,000 euros. Niskanen has practically secured third place in the overall cup, because the difference between front and back is so significant before the final weekend in Lahti.
Karlsson is the biggest loser in the points reform when it comes to the overall cup. After the Tour, he has participated in only one World Cup competition, where he was 11th. A total breakdown in the final climb of the Tour forced Karlsson into a long pit, which finally cost him the overall victory of the World Cup.
In practice, however, the solution already took place before the Tour de Ski – and of course on purpose. At that time, Karlsson missed two Davos World Cup races to focus on the Tour, which he eventually won.
Karlsson received 300 points for the first place in the heavy tour, which was a hundred points less than the previous year’s first prize. Norway celebrating the victory of the overall cup in Lahti on Sunday Tiril Udnes Weng finished third in the Tour, which in the old system would have meant that Karlsson would have narrowed the gap in the World Cup by 160 points. In the new calculation method, the difference shrunk by a measly 30 points.
Weng practically won himself the overall cup winner, because in the last games he has been far from his best. The three previous races have brought places 10, 22 and 14, which have, however, increased Weng’s points pot by a total of 155 points – a year ago, the corresponding places would have been rewarded with 51 points.
Before the final weekend, Weng’s lead over Diggins is 110 points.
So, Weng is far from his best, but in the new model of FIS, performing mediocrely is more important than the level of the race.
– At least I want the top three to be valued in the future as in the old system. That is more important than the fact that someone regularly skis tenth, says Nousiainen.
Bad test
The season that ends on Sunday has been a testing season in many ways, as the former chairman of the FIS cross-country committee Vegard Ulvang photographed for Urheilu the other week.
As a result, in the vast majority of women’s distance races, the best have excelled in their absence.
According to Nousiainen, the crowded competition calendar and points system, which practically forces those who dream of the overall cup to compete in everything, are not good for the sport in the long term.
– This cannot continue. A flu of a few days will water down the entire World Cup. For example, if three races were missed this week, the game would be clear.
– In a long run, not in one season, this system exposes athletes to an overexertion state. Development gets boring easily when you are tired all the time. Kerttu also asked in an interview if anyone liked this new system. He certainly wouldn’t want to ski in every single race either.
A more differentiated Cup program?
Nousiainen’s criticism is joined by a Swedish coaching legend, including Sweden’s all-time female skier Charlotte Kalla piloted Magnus Ingesson.
Kalla was known as a skier who often missed the Tour de Ski during the prize competition years.
During Kalla’s active career, there was a split between skiers, some of whom will tour the World Cup all the way to the Tour de Ski, and the other half of whom are ready to sacrifice the World Cup and focus on the medal hunt.
Kalla never placed in the top three in the World Cup total points or in the distance cup, but she won 22 medals from prestigious competitions, including three Olympic golds and three world championships.
– To me, prestigious competition medals are more significant than the crystal balls awarded for winning the World Cup or other cups, says Ingesson.
In Ingesson’s philosophy, the focus was always on the games where the best were present.
This season was no exception for Sweden. The nine individual medals that were distributed at the distance distances at the Planica World Championships went to five athletes, of whom Andersson and Karlsson cleaned the medal table in all World Cup distances.
The value competitions are the ten-day showcase that gathers the most attention, but the sport should be marketed for four months at the World Cup. The sport is not on a healthy footing if the best shine through their absence for a significant part of the season. However, FIS’ actions do not play into the bag of improving the position of the World Cup.
Ingesson states that he wants to see high-quality competitions where the best athletes are well trained on the line. The current system has been a step in a worse direction from an already problematic system. In order for the athletes to be able to train with quality during the competition season as well, Ingesson is ready to consider separating the distance races and sprints into different weekends.
– In this way, it would be possible to build training to serve better quality competitions, says Ingesson.
The minimum wish is to remove the worst races
When talking about the state of cross-country skiing, the conversation often turns to biathlon, which has managed to establish its position in the Central European market.
Changing the scoring system has no effect on the visibility of cross-country skiing. However, if the current system is to be continued in the next season, Nousiainen supports the introduction of deducting the weakest races, which is familiar in biathlon, also in cross-country skiing.
In the Biathlon World Cup, a model was used for a long time in which the two weakest races of each athlete were left out when calculating the season’s total points.
– It would make the system even less vulnerable. However, the most important thing would be to highlight top athletes more than currently, says Nousiainen.
That’s what the International Biathlon Union ended up doing for this season by removing the above-mentioned rule on minusing two competitions for this season and by emphasizing the position of the top athletes in its scoring.
Will cross-country skiing follow, i.e. take a step back towards the old?