Something big on the horizon

In the pit of my stomach I know something big is about to happen. I am filled with anticipation and hoping, I've packed everything I might need at Whistler, for I head north tommorow. That doesn't stop the 24 hour news cycle on our sport, so here are a few tid bits I picked up during the day.

At Universal Sports studios here in LA, Steve and I finished up two shows this morning, both from the two-time Olympic village of Seefeld in Tirol, Austria. It is one of the most charming winter sports towns I know and they groom and track 500 kilometers of trails there on a regular basis. It's only 15 miles from Innsbruck. The finish by "Super" Mario Stecher today made for an awesome race of tactics right to the finish line, in a pair of nordic combined world cups.

A number of teams are in Park City, Utah for ski jump pre-camps; teams like Korea, Canada and France have been there and Switzerland is coming, so is Japan. Alan Alborn former USA ski jumping great said the hills are in perfect shape for training.

It's a final big world cup weekend in cross-country skiing in Canmore, Alberta. The final tune up will include 10km and 15km men's and women's races on Friday and Saturday will feature classic sprints. I have heard that the Norwegians are not in attendance. The results should be very interesting watching. I am excited to see how the Canadians will do at home with their talented squad.

More doping news: Big story in today's Montreal Gazette featuring US assistant xc coach Justin Wadsworth speaking on insuring the integrity of the sport with aggressive testing. The Italian Olympic committee, known as CONI, has announced they will impose a fine for any Italian athlete caught doping. The fine will be $140,000 and all 109 winter athletes had to sign a statement regarding this, should anyone test positive.

The Russian cross-country skiers have gone thru preliminary testing, said a Senior Doctor in Moscow.

What's more the wires are all carrying stories today about one of Finland's all-time top cross-country skiers, Mika Myllyla, who has admitted to a tv station in Finland that he used EPO during his career. He was involved in a massive sports doping bust back in 2001.

Finally, the IOC has announced it will keep all it's samples for eight years and they will be checked again after the fact, when new tests are developed. Smart idea.

Found out today, that top veteran Austrian nordic combined skier Felix Gottwald is in Las Vegas, with his personal coach Gunter Chromecek and David Kreiner another nordic combined athlete. They will adjust to the new time zone there, working out in a gym and play some golf prior to the games. The rest of the Austrian Combined team has traveled to Canmore, to do some cross-country training there.

I'll be in Vancouver Friday, so more reportage is likely to follow then. Be well my friends.