FIS World Cup Championships 2007

The FIS World Cup Championships are separated into different divisions, allowing each competitor to compete in their own class and style. The championship divisions include alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, masters, ski jumping and freestyle skiing. Each year the competition gets better and every year brings the old faces back and lures the young talent to pit their skills against the world’s best. It is a championship where dreams are fulfilled and heroes are made. And so far this year, there have been nail biting moments and a few well-deserved FIS World Cup celebrations.

In the team sprint competitions in Duesseldorf, for the 2007/ 2008 season, the Swedish teams glided to victory. The ladies team, consisting of Britta Norgren and Charlotte Kalla managed to steal the winning position away from Natalia Mateeva and Natalia Korosteleva (Russia), with Virpi Kuitunen and Pirio Muranen from Finland taking third place. Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the men’s Swedish team turned up the heat in their team sprint effort, leaving second place to Tor Arne Heltand and Johan Kjelstad from Norway and in third place, the second Swedish team made up of Emil Joensson and Marcus Hellner, made their country proud.

The first race of the 2008 Audi FIS World Cup in Soelden was won in a spectacular fashion by defending FIS World Cup Champion, Aksel Lund Svindal. This gripping slalom battle, which was fought on Rettenbach Glacier, set Ted Ligety in second place, Kalle Palander in third position and Benjamin Raich came in fourth. In the ladies slalom race, Denise Karbon won the victory for Italy. Julia Mancuso took second for the United States, Kathrin Zettle took third for Austria and Tanja Poutiainen was forced to settle for a fourth place position for Finland.

During the cross-country division, which took place in Duesseldorf, Natalia Mateeva took first place in the woman’s race, placing Marit Boejgen in second, Anna Dahlberg in third and Ariaana Follis in fourth. Bjoern Lind had to be satisfied with a second place, after Josef Wenzl skied his way to a victory. John Kristian Dahl came in third and his teammate, Petter Northug, secured a fourth position during the men’s race.

Of course, the championship action is all but over, with the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country being continued in Norway on the 24th and the 25th of November and the Sudi FIS Alpine World Cup being held in Finland on the 10th and 11th of November, to name two of the events. Before the season comes to an end, there will no doubt be many more surprising victories and devastating disappointments. New champions will be crowed in all the divisions, including ski jumping, snowboarding and free style. And then there is that overall champion position that still has no name on it.