By Rena Schwartz and Luci Anderson
On the 19th, the pre camp athletes traveled to the Scandic Hotel in Oslo and met up with the rest of the team and the techs. We were welcomed by tight accommodations and a buffet dinner. We have enjoyed tasting many new foods. A favorite dessert has been a “sweet fromage” cake, we are unsure what it is, but there seems to be a new flavor of it every night. Most of the other countries are staying here as well. Our dinner table is next to the Australia, Turkey and Russia tables. It is fun to hear so many other languages being spoken around us! In our down time we have been working on schoolwork, taking advantage of the evening snack time and getting treatment from the wonderful PT, Elizabeth. We end each day with a team meeting to go over the details for the next day.
Most days, we take a 50 minute shuttle with athletes from around the world from our hotel to the venue in Lygna. We have been preparing ourselves for race day by previewing the courses and testing our skis. The wax techs always have our skis ready for us upon arrival which makes us feel like royalty. The walk from the wax cabin to the trails is a short one, but made longer by the swarms of elementary school children begging us for our team USA gear and maybe an autograph or a picture.
The first race, on the 22nd, was a 15k freestyle mass start for the women and a 30k freestyle mass start for the men. We had a great showing on our women’s side with Sydney in 6th, Sammy in 11th, Kate in 27th, and Nina in 41st. It was a very impressive day for our U18s Sammy and Nina who raced in their first 15k skate mass start races. Our men also put down some great races with Michael in 10th, Brian in 16th, Walker in 31st, and Zander in 36th. Those of us who did not race skied in the morning and then stayed at the venue to cheer on our teammates. We joined many Team USA parents at an exceptional cheering location atop the largest hill on the course.
The mass start races were a great way to kick off the upcoming week of racing!! The vibes are good and the energy is high. We are so thankful for the support from NNF to help us get here.
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