Friday, April 24, 2009

Hetland Exits

ESPN.com, that noted outlet for all news related to Nordic skiing, reports that Norwegian sprinter Tor Arne Hetland has retired from competitive skiing. Plagued last year by asthma and a nagging knee injury, Hetland still managed to finish third in the sprint World Cup standings. This finish caps a pretty damn good career: Hetland finished third in the sprint standings in 2001 and 2006, second in 1999 and 2003, and first in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, he finished third in the overall World Cup standings, as well. He amassed 30 World Cup podiums, including 11 wins as well as a good number of top-event medals: a bronze in the the freestyle sprint at the Val di Fiemme World Championships, silvers in the classic team sprint at the Torino Winter Games and the classic sprint at the Oberstdorf Worlds, and golds in the freestyle team sprint at Oberstdorf, the freestyle sprint at the Lahti Worlds, and the freestyle sprint at Salt Lake City, the first time that a sprint event was held at the Olympics.

 
In other words, he was a stud. I only hope the Norwegians can find some new sprinters to fill the the 6'1"/174 lbs hole he creates in their team.

2 comments:

Theo said...

Hi guys.
First time i'm visiting your blogg and it's nice to se there is more dedicated and passionate XC skiing fans out there! Loved the podcast nice work, just finished listening to part 3, Vigen Hattestad and Kowalczyk most likely to decline, boy where you wrong:P Hope you'll make more podcasts in the future. In the meantime keep up the good work.
PS: Look out for Marthe Kristoffersen and Anders Gløersen next season, great late round picks to put on your fantasy team;D

Natalie said...

Where's the season review guys??