Thursday, August 30, 2007

Ready, set, go: Roller Skiing Worlds in Oroslavje (CRO)


Ready, set, go: Roller Skiing Worlds in Oroslavje (CRO)

Everything is ready to go for the FIS Roller Skiing World Championships in Oroslavje (CRO) set for 30th August – 2nd September. More than 150 competitors from 17 countries on three continents have been registered. The competition schedule includes four races in the junior male and female, and senior male and female categories each: prologue, sprint, pursuit and relay.

The favorites at the start include, on the men’s side, Igor Glushkov (RUS), the defending sprint world champion and current FIS World Cup leader, and Alfio di Gregorio (ITA), the 2006 FIS World Cup overall winner. The defending 2005 world champion in the pursuit, Vitaly Martsyv (RUS), will also compete, as will the double Olympic champion from Torino 2006, Giorgio Di Centa (ITA). On the ladies’ side, Mateja Bogatec (ITA) and Elena Vedeneeva (RUS) will defend their sprint respectively pursuit titles. One of their biggest challengers is Maria Magnusson of Sweden, the current leader in the FIS Roller Skiing World Cup.



The first race, the 5.8km uphill prologue, will be staged in Bistra on Thursday 30th August. The sprints are scheduled on Friday and Croatian Television will broadcast live. On Friday evening, Stjepan Mesic, President of the Republic of Croatia, will attend the official opening ceremony, along with Dragan Primorac, Minister of Education, Science and Sport and Bozo Biskupic, Minister of Culture and Zlatko Matesa, President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, at the main town square in Oroslavje. The pursuit races will be carried out in Stubicke Toplice. For more information, please click here.