Freeman feeling good for Vancouver

For the naming of the U.S. Olympic cross-country team, click here.

This week has been busy for me. Went to Lake Placid to announce the St. Lawrence Winter Carnival -- won by Dartmouth's Big Green -- and got the vocal cords ready for Olympic announcing; everything seemed in order. The pipes were piping.

Last week, I spoke with Kris Freeman on my radio show and had the chance to ask him about his real goals for Games time.

"For once I am free from pain and that's a good thing," Freeman said from his home in Thornton, N.H. "You know I have to get my blood sugar balanced; I've dealt with painful compartment syndrome. By the time I get to the start line, it's a relief. I feel -- ok, now I can go out there and do my job, and, hopefully, I'll have a great race."

Nerves won't be a huge factor for the battle-hardened Freeman.

"I do everything the same, and I don't really know how I will do until I get out there, if I get two top 10's that would be great, but the dream is the medal, and that's what I want," he said.

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The Norwegians have named most of their Olympic team, with the squad standing at eleven so far. I was able to catch up with top Norwegian training chief Age Skinstad, who told Universal Sports exclusively, "Our cross-country team goal is to be the best nation at the Games. Statistically, we need more than three golds to achieve this. The distance skiers will be split 50-50 between Sun Valley (Idaho) and the Norwegian lowlands for their preparation camps. The sprinters will have their last camp at Whistler. We expect that all our athletes will be in Whistler a minimum of nine days before their first competition."

Regarding the upcoming Canmore World Cup, he also told us, "Only a few skiers -- and no sprinters -- from the Olympic team will take part in the World Cup in Canmore; although we will have a rather big team there. All together there will be 20 athletes on the Norwegian Olympic team for cross-country -- eight women and 12 men."

Magnar Dalan, the trainer from Finland told me that they would not name their Olympic squad until January 28th, saying that it's quite open in cross-country. He amplified a comment he made to me this fall, instructively saying, "Many nations will take Olympic medals. Probably there will be a new record in the number of nations winning medals. ... Our goal in Finland is to get some of them."

Germany sprint coach and former Norwegian skiing great, Tor Arne Hetland, said he was optimistic about medals for his sprint crew. The last race for them to qualify is in Rybinsk, Russia," he said. "Heun will make his first race this weekend, and his injured foot just needed more time to heal -- watch for Wenzel; he will be fast this weekend. I predict Germany will for sure take some medals at the (Olympics)," the cheerful Hetland said while telling me he found some rad new routes for tellie skiing in Davos, where they have spent much time training at altitude. Rock on, TA!

The former superstar jumper, Martin Schmitt of Germany, is likely to make another Olympic team, despite having suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome -- a common aliment among athletes. His coach says he is feeling better and will definitely be in Vancouver, but it is unknown if he will take part in ski flying this weekend on one of his favorite jumps: Oberstdorf. Competition on the ski flug hill will run from Jan. 29-31st.

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College Winter Carnivals got underway last weekend in the East and the Rocky Mountain regions. Dartmouth's Big Green won the opener at the St. Lawrence Winter Carnival in Lake Placid, while UNM took top honors at the Montana State University event, just outside of Bozeman.

Word reaches us that University of Maine-Presque Isle head Nordic coach, Alexi Sotskov, will be the coach for at least three athletes -- including former Dartmouth star Ben Koons -- at the Olympics for New Zealand.

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Up in Northern Vermont, at the lovely small hamlet of Craftsbury, the 2010 U.S. National Masters Championships will get underway next week. To register for the event, try www.craftsbury.com/skiing/marathon/masters10.htm. It's sure to be a lot of fun with some great competition.

QUICK KICKS: There has been a great deal of rain falling at the Whistler Olympic Park this past week, but things are still reported to be fine. ... World Junior Nordics and the U-23 championships will get underway next week in the lovely Black Forest town of Hinterzarten. ... There's a new ski racing tour on the horizon; the new FIS tour will feature a race from Vadso, Norway to Rovaniemi, Finland, in the inaugural springtime event. The event will be known as the Tour de Barents. Qualification criteria announced yesterday by FIS XC committee chairman, Vegard Ulvang is 150 FIS points for men and 180 FIS points for women, as of February 15, 2010.