Cross-country skiing has always been one of the most popular winter sports in Scandinavia (Eriksson, 1976). Although downhill skiing has become more and more popular during the last ten years, cross-country skiing is still the most important mass sport in Finland. The number of competitive skiers has been increasing owing to the fact that the younger age groups as well as the veteran series hav...

BACKGROUND Previous studies using electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor brain activity have linked higher frontal theta activity to more focused attention and superior performance in goal-directed precision tasks. In biathlon, shooting performance requires focused attention after high-intensity cross-country skiing. PURPOSE To compare biathletes (serving as experts) and cross-country skiers...

BACKGROUND Sprint events in cross-country skiing are unique not only with respect to their length (0.8-1.8 km), but also in involving four high-intensity heats of ~3 min in duration, separated by a relatively short recovery period (15-60 min). OBJECTIVE Our aim was to systematically review the scientific literature to identify factors related to the performance of elite sprint cross-country s...

The current study simulated cross-country skiing on varying terrain by using a power balance model. By applying the hypothetical inductive deductive method, we compared the simulated position along the track with actual skiing on snow, and calculated the theoretical effect of friction and air drag on skiing performance. As input values in the model, air drag and friction were estimated from the...

OBJECTIVES To provide an overview of ski injuries in Norway and to describe the changes between 1990 and 1996. METHODS All ski injuries (7966) treated at four hospitals providing health care to a defined population of about 11% of the Norwegian population were registered prospectively from 1990 to 1996. For this study, 6462 injuries sustained in cross country skiing, downhill skiing, telemark...

There is little information available on injuries to World Cup skiers and snowboarders. The aim of this study was to describe and compare the injury risk to World Cup athletes in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross country skiing. We performed retrospective interviews with the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup athletes from selected n...

Researchers have, for decades, contributed to an increased collective understanding of the physiological demands in cross-country skiing; however, almost all of these studies have used either non-elite subjects and/or performances that emulate cross-country skiing. To establish the physiological demands of cross-country skiing, it is important to relate the investigated physiological variables ...