When I was in Finland in the summer of 1975 I would cross paths with some guy who was on rolling cross country skis and with a ski pole. Maybe it was something that he rigged up on his own but I saw others doing the same thing while riding around the country.
I had a frat brother, and cross country teammate who used roller skis in 1976. I remember seeing them in ads, maybe in Runners World (when it was for serious runners) earlier than that.
Petter Northug has run 6.10 2k steeples as a junior, so he is only a mediocre runner. The reason is obvious when looking of his muscular body.
skii wrote:
http://kondis.oslonett.no/bilder/trondelag/2007/Nybrottkarusellen/3petter_northug.JPGU.N.O, tell me what you know about that guy.
As usual, some of you jump right into a discussion that you know little about and spout off things without even checking if they are right.
Daehlie was at his best from 1991-1999 and had an accident (on roller skis!) that ended his career in 2000.
When did you think roller skis were invented?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skiing
Roller skis have been around longer than you, me, or Bjorn Daehlie.
For those of you who keep saying he would not be a "world elite" ... who said anything about that? Nobody said he would be world class at the 10k or any other running event. The OP just asked if he had ACTUALLY broken 30:00. Looks like he never did.
10k PR? Weight? VO2max? Who cares? Daehlie is generally considered the greatest XC skier of all time.
I saw roller skis in madison wi in 1979
the photos at the following link may be of interest to Bjorn Daehlie fans (scroll down to find Bjorn's photo):
http://spindel.oslonett.no/weblisher/weblisher//view.php?base=kondis&cat=sjef&aid=54651
Do any of you know anything about this race?
Looks pretty brutal.
Joel
That looks like one heckuva climb. Did you notice the picture of Ingrid Kristiansen, below Bjørn Dæhlie?
Like the wiki articles says, rollerskis have been around for a long time, and were popularized ca. 1970s.
Bob Kempainen was a top notch xc skier in high school, and his brother was on an Olympic team. Minnesota fans might no more, but one of BK's main rivals in running and skiing was Ben Husaby. I think they were running around 9:10s for 3200 in high school. Husaby went on to win several US ski championships and made a couple of Olympic teams.
Perhaps one of the best runner skiers in the US history was Norwegian native/naturalized US citizen John Aalberg, who was an All American xc runner in college (9th NCAA in 1987) and NCAA ski champion (Utah) and placed top 30 in the Olympics (either 1992 or 1994).
anything is possible with EPO
Rollerskis were around way back in the 70's even behind the iron curtain, where everything came with a ten year delay...
My dad was a int. runner at that time and he used bloody heavy rollerskis when he was injured during no-snow months. I found them in the storage room about 12 years ago and had served me quite well despite their heavy weight. When compared to today's models, they are very heavy and clumsy, but their frame is indestructible. I will save them for my daughters when they grow up :)
P.S.: I have friends who are international skiers and only one is capable of running sub 30 10km. Not surprisingly - he is the shortest and lightest of them (5'7" and 64kgs or cca 140lbs) and runs mountain races during the off season. If Daehlie didn't run sub 30 10k during his prime, I bet he could if he spent more time running during the summer. Sub 30 is not a big deal and does not require too much of running talent. Aerobic conditioning plus some running is sufficient, if the body frame is light enough.
Does anyone have the dates or at least years of Daehlie's PRs?
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There is another Norwegian athlete - Didrik TØNSETH. Was in the national XC ski team for some years (though not among top 5 or so). He is a very good XC runner. Once I watched a video where he was fighting with one of the Ingebrigtsen bros (the one with mustach) and only lost a few seconds. And it looked like if the course was hillier, he would win.
According to worldathletics.org he once ran 29:48/10K
Didrik TØNSETH | Profile | World Athletics
RIP: D3 All-American Frank Csorba - who ran 13:56 in March - dead
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
Running for Bowerman Track Club used to be cool now its embarrassing
Hats off to my dad. He just ran a 1:42 Half Marathon and turns 75 in 2 months!
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
