As far as teams go on the cross-country World Cup, Great Britain arrives at the show with perhaps the smallest team roster and staff. Somehow, they often roar when considering the results. We know British Nordic from the sharp end skiing of Andrew Musgrave, and sprinters Andrew Young and James Clugnet.
Like all teams on the circuit, the human capital behind the Lycra-clad skiers make the travel, training, and race grind happen. In this episode of Nordic Nation we speak with the two coaches leading the British team – Hans Kristian Stadheim and Jostein Vinjerui. The two coaches are Norwegian and are based in Norway full-time. Which makes things easy considering the three thoroughbreds of the British team – Musgrave, Young, and Clugnet – live in Norway as well.
The organizational model premised on elite athletes living abroad, in this case Norway, outside their home country might not be for every team. In the case of Britain, so far, it appears to have worked. The athletes and coaches are able to capitalize on their personal and professional relationships to tap into Norway’s cross-country ski know-how and arguably overreach when it comes to the expectations of a non-traditional ski nation like Britain.
We should note that Vinjerui and Stadheim, as well as their skiers, host a podcast that’s a fun and informative listen. You can find their podcast, Inside Cross-Country Skiing, wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks for listening and we hope your spring is going well.
Jason Albert
Jason lives in Bend, Ore., and can often be seen chasing his two boys around town. He’s a self-proclaimed audio geek. That all started back in the early 1990s when he convinced a naive public radio editor he should report a story from Alaska’s, Ruth Gorge. Now, Jason’s common companion is his field-recording gear.
