Skiing “That famous wall” is more sensitive to normal at the Olympic Games – sports physiologist explains what it’s all about

Norwegian top skiers Simen Hegstad Krüger may have kicked heavily recently as he failed to defend his Olympic victory in the 30km combined race due to a corona infection.

The fact that Krüger would have a trump card suitable for these Olympic events may have caused a special bonus: a phenomenal tendency to cope with high competition.

When competing in the Olympic World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, in December, Krüger won by far the 15-kilometer (v) break at an altitude of about 1,600 meters.

“Other Norwegian skiers have said that Krüger does not seem to be affected by anything high. And you can see from the results that he always skis very high, ”Finland’s head coach Teemu Pasanen says.

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“There are differences in how the blood is oxidized.”

Readjustment high is, in principle, a significant variable in the cross-country skiing, biathlon and combined of the Beijing Games, as the Olympic tracks in Zhangjiakou orbit at an exceptionally high altitude of about 1,700 meters.

Why do other top endurance athletes have no problem competing high, but some experience the opposite?

Head coach of Finnish skiing in recent years Magnar Dalen used the term of some athletes high altitude negative. It meant an athlete who had difficulty adapting to a so-called high airspace.

Cross-country team Physiologist at the Kihu Research Center for Racing and Top Sports Esa Hynynen notes that high adjustment is quite individual.

Even if two athletes prepare equally high, their experiences of competing high can still be very different.

According to Hynysen, some will have more drastic changes and some will have smaller ones. It is somewhat known why this is happening, but not everything is understood.

“There are differences in how the blood is oxidized in the pulmonary circulation. Some are not allowed to carry oxygen to hemoglobin during loading, and some red blood cells rotate without oxygen. In some cases, the oxygen saturation remains higher, and then better oxygen can be delivered to the musculature. When it comes to endurance sports, it’s a hugely essential thing, ”says Hynynen.

According to Hynysen, the oxygen saturation of some athletes drops under high stress even at sea level.

“For the most part, it’s very small. At the camps, we’ve noticed that there are differences in sleep as well, ”says Hynynen, who was at a high-altitude camp at Val Senales, Italy, last October.

According to Hynysen, the oxygen uptake capacity at an altitude of 1,700 meters is less than ten percent lower than at sea level. “That’s how much the machine is out of power.”

Decreased oxygen uptake results in athletes hurrying high above normal, at least on shorter distances.

“It’s just a normal reaction and kind of happens automatically. Instead, biathletes are likely to deliberately giggle as much as possible when they enter the bench and try to oxygenate the body so that they can hold their breath for a while while shooting, ”says Hynynen, who was involved in the finishing camp of Finnish Olympic biathletes.

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“There could be drastic outages if you make the mistake of overestimating your ability.”

Hynysen believes that high altitude training is beneficial to all athletes, at least in the sense that it provides an experience of how your own body responds to high stress.

“In skiing, it’s at least helpful to be able to plan your own pace better.”

Thus, if a skier with a higher-than-average drop in oxygen saturation enters the Olympic track in the same way as at sea level, problems will easily arise.

“That famous wall will be hit pretty quickly, and it’s not just about high up in the middle of a race, it’ll probably happen later.”

There are also athletes in skiing who have lived high for most of their lives, such as the Swiss multiple Olympic winner who will end his career this season. Dario Cologna.

“They have more of those repetitions, even in high-performance performances, than those who live on low. They are able to assess their own abilities more realistically than one who has less experience at a high level. That experience is valuable, ”says Hynynen, noting that the World Cup rarely competes at the same height as the Olympics.

In Hynysen’s opinion, matching the starting pace to one’s own abilities is a critical issue at the Olympic Games.

“If you make the mistake of going too long too hard, it will pay off. There will be no time to recover during the same race. There can be severe outages if you make a mistake overestimating your ability. ”

Lightweight according to Hynysen, skiers do better at high altitudes.

“People with a lot of meat may have more challenges.”

Hynynen mentions that, for example Krista Pärmäkoski said as early as the fall before the start of the competition season strive for “weight optimization” for the Olympics.

“When you go high, there are a few pounds to drop. The smaller the athlete, the less energy he consumes on the hills. Highly, this is even more pronounced, ”Pärmäkoski explained at a media meeting in early October, emphasizing that the goal was to lose only two kilos in four months.

According to Hynysen, a slightly lower muscle mass can achieve the advantage of being high if the pounds have been pinched off with the help of experts.

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