Bindings

8 individual gold medals, 4 silver and 4 bronze. The team athletes in cross-country and Nordic combined made the World Championships a great success for Rottefella.

8 gold equals 80 % of all individual gold medals handed out in the two disciplines throughout the week. Add a couple of gold medals in relay, and you realize the great achievements of which Rottefella is a part of.

Petter Northug became the king of these championships. At times he was playing with his competitors up at Holmenkollen. Gold in 30 km pursuit, gold at the 50 km. He also determined the relay in advantage of Norway, and got the silver in the team sprint. Silver was the result in the individual sprint as well, even though that medal had a touch of disappointment after giving in for Marcus Hellner.

Marit Bjørgen was just as supreme. She came to the champs with a goal of taking one individual gold medal. It became three, plus an unthreatened gold in the relay and silver in the 30 km. The predicted duel between Bjørgen and Justyna Kowalczyk had its climax at the 10 km. Four seconds was the gap, to Bjørgen’s advantage. No wonder she was radiant with joy when walking around in her golden jacket between interviews and price giving ceremonies.

Favourites meeting their obligations is of course impressive. It’s not hard to understand the pleasure of succeeding when everybody is expecting it. However, it sure makes us happy when new stars are born, or reborn. The Finnish cross-country team has struggled during the last years, but now it seems like they’re back on track. Matti Heikkinen became a symbol of the great comeback when taking the gold on the 15 km – skiing on Rottefella.

Thanks to their team in Nordic combined, Austria almost matched Norway on the medal count. One gold to Norway, one gold to Austria, that was the melody all the way to the last day. Three out of four taking the gold in the team competition skied on Rottefella.

The new Skate spacer got a great deal of attention during the championships, and the pink appliance deserves credit for Rottefella’s fine bag of medals. The Skate spacer was mounted on several Xcelerator-bindings taking gold, so the spacer has really turned out to be a useful little helper in the fight of seconds and medals. You will find the skate spacer for sale next season.