German cross-country skier's eyes freeze shut
Extreme conditions for the cross-country skiers at the World Cup in Kuusamo: at temperatures of -19 degrees, the athletes are not only battling against the competition, but also with their bodies. Lucas Bögl can only see blurred. Florian Notz gets dizzy.
The freezing cold in the Arctic Circle put the cross-country skiers at the World Cup in Kuusamo to the test. "On some laps, my vision was blurred because my eyes froze - despite my glasses. My optician will hate me," said Lucas Bögl in the face of 19 degrees below freezing. His toes also suffered despite wearing foot warmers. According to FIS regulations, competitions may only take place if it is not colder than minus 20 degrees. However, none of the DSV starters wanted to accept the cold as an excuse.
The Norwegian Jan Thomas Jenssen won the mass start in the final sprint, the Germans Florian Notz (24th) and Bögl (38th) did well. Notz explained that he felt "a bit dizzy" in the second half of the race. Meanwhile, top star Johannes Hösflot Kläbo, the weakest Norwegian, suffered his next defeat in 21st place - a year ago, the five-time Olympic champion had won all three races on the opening weekend. However, Kläbo was unable to train for a long time at the beginning of November due to coronavirus.
Katharina Hennig also suffered enormously from the temperatures in the 20-kilometer race. "In future, Katha should wear even thicker overshoes. That won't happen to her a second time," said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder. The Olympic champion did not make it past 27th place in the 10-kilometer race. Hennig's teammate Victoria Carl just wanted to "go to the sauna" after her eighth place, Pia Fink complained about stiff legs: "I couldn't move well anymore."
Carl, who had stayed in the leading group until the end and was only beaten in the final sprint, was very happy with her result: "I wasn't in a good position and then I simply ran out of energy. But an eighth place with such a small gap to the front is just mega cool." Hennig, who won Olympic gold in the team sprint together with Carl in 2022, was more than two minutes behind at the finish. The athlete from Saxony had already declared before the start that she was "at war" with the mass start race in Kuusamo.
Despite the challenging Winter sports scene at the World Cup in Kuusamo, where athletes face temperatures as low as -19 degrees, Nordic skiing competitor Lucas Bögl found his eyes freezing shut during his race, affecting his vision. In the same Winter sports event, Florian Notz struggled with dizziness.
Source: www.ntv.de
