CROSS-COUNTRY:

Nordic Notepad: Can Bjoergen keep it going?

Feb. 19, 2010 — SRC Staff Report     ►Photo: Marit Bjoergen (Agence Zoom)

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In many Olympics, there are one or two athletes who hit their peak at exactly the correct time. These are the athletes who become the stories of the Games — the multi-medallists who become “the” athlete to beat. Think Michael Phelps in Beijing or Bjorn Daehlie in Nagano.

To date, the Vancouver Olympics has been without one of these emerging stories. Lindsey Vonn, touted as a multi-medal threat, missed her opportunity for a second gold with a DNF in the super-combined slalom.

Friday, cross-country saw the emergence of perhaps this Games’ first dominant athlete. Marit Bjoergen claimed her third medal of the Games, and her second gold, winning the women’s 15 kilometre pursuit with ease. Two days earlier, she won the classic sprint race. Through three races, she seems to have found the perfect form for these Games — her wins have been powerful and convincing, with a strong double-pole finish in the sprint and a breakaway in the pursuit with about 1.5 km remaining, to cruise into the finish straight.

This is the Olympics Bjoergen has been waiting for. For years, she was touted as the next dominant Norwegian woman skier. She had terrific seasons in 2004 and 2005 but lost confidence before the 2006 Olympics and did not ski as well as she, and certainly the Norwegian media, had hoped.

The pressure on Bjoergen was tremendous, and she spent a few seasons finding her confidence and top form once again. She arrived on the World Cup circuit stronger than ever this season, and though not the favourite, seems to be fresh, relaxed and ready for these Games. The dominant woman through the World Cup thus far, Justyna Kowalczyk, has seemed a bit tired, perhaps a consequence of racing every event up to the Olympics.

The question now is whether Bjoergen can turn a terrific start into a truly dominant performance. To do so, she would need to win the long-distance mass-start classic race and help Norway win gold in at least one of the two upcoming relays, sprint and distance. If she were to return to Norway with five medals around her neck, she would deserve a rightful place among that country’s sporting legends.  SRC