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FasterSkier Forums » Racing

US Nationals scheduling - tell me why?

(2 posts)

  1. joeconn4
    Member

    US Nordic Nationals, January 2011, Rumford, ME. Sprint races Sun 1/2 and Sat 1/8. Distance races Tues 1/4 and Thurs 1/6. Does anyone else think this kind of scheduling does our sport no favors? The "every other day" scheduling is ok. But why not put 1 distance race on a weekend to encourage skiers who work during the week to at least compete in 1 of the races. I think it's pretty safe to say that the least attractive races to enter to masters and any post-college racers are the sprint races.

    And if you scheduled the sprint races back to back racers who are less interested in the distance races wouldn't have to stick around all week to deal with 6 days between the sprint races.

    Why not: Sun 1/2 classic sprint, Tues 1/4 skate sprint, Thurs 1/6 distance classic, Sat 1/8 distance skate?

    Anybody got any ideas on why the USSA sets it up the way they do?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. Doug1
    Member

    Well, first off, US nationals are by no means meant for you average master skier. The point of these races are to see who the best skiers in the country are. For the distance skiers, they can benefit from doing sprints, and vice versa.

    One of the biggest reasons I see for scheduling like this is to balance out the races, If you are a really good sprinter, and a decent distance skier, then it is a disadvantage for you to have a distance race right after a sprint since you likely skied the rounds, while most people didn't. As it is setup, only one of the distance races is like this. Also, pure sprinters will probably skip the 30k, giving them an advantage in only 1 of the sprints over more all around skiers.

    Finally, it encourages skiers to stick around for the whole week. In the past when it was 2 distance races, then 2 sprints, the last day wasn't a full field. So, its setup this way to make the best possible race series for the top skiers. Its great to have participation from many people, but when world championship teams, and prize money are on the line, the requirement of having a fair race for the best take over.

    Posted 1 year ago #

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