Thoughts from Liberec

The pure, unadulterated essence of ski racing is an awesome thing and I got a glimpse of it several times during my career. It kept me motivated through all the hours, all the pain, all the sacrifices that I had to make. But it was a subtle realization brought out gradually over time – the feeling you get when you are peaking and your body is electric with power, the satisfaction of achieving goals, or the awe you feel after racing hard for 2+ hours in a pack of 20 skiers. However, I have never been knocked over the head with it until now. Yesterday I skied through the Liberec stadium about 20 minutes before the start of the Pursuit for some last-minute structure and top-coat tests. The announcers were warming up the crowd, seeing how loud they could make it in the stadium and they let out a huge roar as I skied along the start stretch. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There were many thousands of people here to see the best ski racers in the world battle it out. They were fired up and they were lined up everywhere along the course with horns, noisemakers and energy. As the race developed, the crowd matched the skiers’ intensity and the volume increased dramatically as the big efforts were thrown down near the end. We often ponder why European countries seem to be able to develop dedicated XC skiers while most Americans don’t seem to stick to it long enough to become great. What we need to do is somehow capture this spectacle, bottle it up and feed it to kids across the country. If you are not a ski racer, you would consider becoming one once you took a swig. For those who are already racers, a few sips of this potion would instantly distill focus on the goal of arriving here, to be racing at this level. Once you witness it in this way, you can’t escape understanding what this sport is. And once you understand that, you will most likely be hooked like a junkie. If you have kids, make plans for Oslo 2011. They will see it, hear it and drink it up.

- Nathan Schultz, February 23, 2009