giovedì 30 marzo 2017

Nordic Skiing World Championships in Lahti - 3rd day 04/03/2017

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I arrive in Lahti at 12.30. Outside the station people distribute purple trumpets. Shortly before the stadium, sponsors of Norway distribute white caps with the Norwegian colours: I put it on top of mine. Before entering, however, I take it off, because I have no intention to enlist in the Norwegian fans. With them and some purchases I made my backpack (which  follows me faithfully from Turin 2006) it is at the limit of its capacity, so for the cross-country race (which was not a race to the bottom, as Google, misled by the Italian word "fondo", thought), I have to give up using my binocular, too buried to be retrieved.


 Inside the stadium stickers for cheeks are also offered: there are all flags, even Italy (and even Spain, although I have seen no Spaniard). This time so I can save the stick with which I usually paint them, which I have carried around for several years, even on trips that have nothing to do with sports (though there do not use it ...). Before going into the stands, I visit the  adventure area with Western setting and a mini jump hill for children, K5 (i.e. with the point of maximum slope of the runway at 5 meters). I saw children of 3-4 years trying to jump, but falling before reaching the tooth (which is almost non-existent) and making the whole track by lying.

As I said yesterday, this time I have a ticket of the most expensive category, so I have a comfortable, covered seat (but not numbered, there were no numbered seats). I wish I had taken the same tickets on other days. I said I detest mass starts: they are made by more than an hour of boredom for 5-10 minutes of emotions at the end. I miss the old races in time trial mode, where at the first checkpointat least you could tell who would not win. The women's 30 km. is already a bit better than 50 km., not only because it lasts less, but also because it livens up a bit earlier, they form pretty soon a group of 13, which then become 10 and remain so until a few kilometers from the end. From my seat I can see even better the finish, compared to the opposite grandstand where I was the other day. It ends with 4 Norwegian in first 4 places: Norwegian fans heat up a little,  so far did not seem to care so much about the successes, there were too accustomed.  The first Italian is 15th, and in our condition is not bad: the times of Belmondo and Di Centa are gone.


I decide to resist to cold (which is much more than the past few days) for a little more, to attend what they call "presentation ceremony", as the victory ceremony is made in the evening in the medal plaza (now evervbody have one): in fact it is a victory ceremony without medals, even anthems are played. But now the cold is felt, and I plan to get warmed in the arena, but I cultivate an illusion: entrances, are blocked so the only way to have a little shelter is to enter the store.



It is now time of the team jumping competition. The most expensive grandstand is not full.Everyone are all seated, except for a couple that decide to stand in front of me, forcing me to change seat. Again there is the "crowd supporter", with music and more: we use trumpets to accompany "An der schoenen blauen Donau".A few years ago the team jumping was the most closed race in all winter Olympics, not just in Nordic skiing, but today is very open at the end Poland wins because it is the only one not to make big mistakes. In the second run the cold gets really hard to bear: already in the second round of jumps I cannot wait for it to finish, and moreover there are also interruptions for wind. I regret not having gone to Belgrade to see athletics: the results were not exciting, but at least I would have been indoor.

It's time to go: it will take a while before my next trip, we will have time to talk about past experiences.



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